A dusty corner of the historic Elks Tower containing a pool hidden for decades will soon get a second life when a Euro-style cafe, bar and chocolatier open next year. The Ayers family has begun renovating a bi-level corner of the 1926 building designed by architect Leonard J. Starks to incorporate a pool where club members swam for 50 years. The pool hasn't been used since about the early 1980s. Building owner Steve Ayers, his daughter Katharine (Ayers) Gelber and her husband, Michael Gelber, are partnering to open Rail Bridge Wine and Spirits in the front corner of the building at 921 11th St. The other corner is anchored by McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant. The bar, small cafe

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson released the names of his regional arena coalition Monday, amid hopes the Here We Build campaign will be able to figure out financing options. But the absence of a representative of Natomas, where Power Balance Pavilion sits, raised protests from the Natomas Chamber of Commerce. Johnson announced the members of a bipartisan, 15-member executive committee Monday morning. The remaining 45 members of the community coalition were expected to be announced Monday evening, according to the mayor’s office. No one from the Natomas Chamber of Commerce, which has led a campaign to keep the arena there, had been asked to be part of the coalition as of 5:30 p.m. No Nat

A Curtis Park microbrewery that plays up Sacramento's railroad history is one step closer to opening after winning approval from the city Planning Commission. Two craft beer fans expect to open Track 7 Brewing Company, a microbrewery and tasting room, in mid-September if other necessary permits and licensing are granted. Southern California transit analyst Ryan Graham and Sacramento mortgage underwriter Geoff Scott said they hope to start working on an adaptive reuse of a 380-square-foot space 2,100-square-foot space inside a warehouse at 3747 W. Pacific Ave., near Sutterville Road and 24th Street, within a month. The Sacramento Planning Commission voted 8-1 Thursday night to grant a sp

This fall, Midtown Sacramento will finally get its own Squeeze Inn – home of the famous Squeeze Burger and Squeeze with Cheese. Squeeze Inn employee Sabrina Nicola will open her first restaurant under the guidance of Squeeze Inn owners Travis and Vicki Hausauer. The Hausauers will be silent partners in the new restaurant expected to open in October on K Street. Nicola, 25, will be the sole operator and will work under a licensing agreement with the couple, who bought the original Squeeze Inn on Fruitridge Road in 2001. Both she and Travis Hausauer said she has learned a lot working behind the counter, starting out at the little old shack that first housed the Squeeze when she was 18 and

Local dance instructor Lena Logan has opened her first studio, the Contemporary Dance Conservatory, in a warehouse once used for raves. The studio opened May 2 at 213 26th St., in a renovated 6,300-square-foot warehouse whose neighbors include a community garden, bicycle repair shop, an independent building contractor's shop area and homes.  From 4 - 10 p.m. Saturday, the studio will hold a grand opening that mixes dance performance and live art. Her students will give short dance performances each hour, while muralists and graffiti artists will create paintings on the front of the building. Logan's focus is to train teens and pre-teens who want to move on to professional dance companie

Sacramento shopkeepers Olivia Coelho and Trisha Rhomberg will open a new take on their vintage clothing store Bows & Arrows this Saturday. And this time, they will not be alone. The new Bows & Arrows, opening across from Safeway on 19th Street, will also sell the gourmet popsicles, panini sandwiches and other fare made by Jaymes Luu of Davis-based Fat Face cafe. The new store, located in a former recording studio, will continue to sell clothes from the 1960s through the early 1990s. Coelho and Rhomberg will also sell refashioned clothing under their own label, Miss Chief of California. The new store will also contain an art gallery, the cafe, and a beer and wine bar run by Coelho and Rh

Miss a week, miss … well, not as much as I'd hoped. I took last week off from The Sacramento Press and treated myself to a nice little media fast. When I got back, I took a good look at the results of the long-awaited ICON-Taylor feasibility study of the arena. This is it? My expectations were that this report was going to tell us how Sacramento could build a new arena. What we got instead were more of what we've had before: pretty pictures, big plans and media-ready optimism. But no how. (Read the report here.)  I've been as optimistic as anyone about the possibility of making a downtown arena a reality. I think it makes a lot of sense for this city, and I think it's doable. But the

A regional campaign to finance a new arena officially launched Tuesday. A coalition called "Here We Build" will work within a tight, 100-day deadline to evaluate what kind of financing mechanisms, fees or taxes might be used. While the list of 60 leaders is still being finalized this week, the coalition is expected to meet for the first time within about two weeks. The group will be co-chaired by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, and State Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican from Roseville. Steinberg called on the region to unite behind the campaign to boost jobs, economic development and pride in the greater Sacramento area. "It's time for everyone

The Sacramento Kings' majority owners reacted positively to a new plan for a proposed $387 million arena project unveiled Thursday, but admitted they're anxious to see whether the plan can be turned into reality. Developers told the Sacramento City Council a $241 million arena, with a total project cost of $387 million, could be built by early 2015 if a mix of public and private funding can be pulled together. During a two-and-a-half-hour presentation, ICON Venue Group President Tim Romani, Sacramento developer David Taylor and others on an arena development team provided the public with many details of the plan. Afterward, team co-owners Gavin and Joe Maloof told reporters they have a

 Developers say Sacramento could build a $241 million arena, with a total project cost of $387 million, by early 2015 if a mix of public and private funding can be pulled together, according to a feasibility report presented to the city Thursday. The ICON-Taylor team says a 675,000-square-foot arena with 18,594 seats, 74 luxury suites, 2,080 premium and club seats and other amenities could be constructed. Power Balance Pavilion in Natomas, the current home of the Sacramento Kings, can seat up to 17,317 and has 30 luxury suites and 712 club seats. A location on city land in the downtown railyards is preferred, but city land in Natomas could also hold a new entertainment and sports comple

Arena developers are expected to unveil plans to build a new Sacramento arena, reportedly at a cost of $386 million, at a special City Council meeting Thursday – but they're not sure how to finance it just yet. The ICON-Taylor team will discuss the possible design, amenities, location and cost to construct an arena in a 1 p.m. presentation at City Hall. The team's feasibility analysis determined that both public and private financing will be required for the project. Without either, the project wouldn't be feasible, according to a staff report released Wednesday. Sacramento County voters rejected a plan to build a $600 million, 1 million-square-foot arena in 2006. The city also chose no

A new arena for Sacramento is likely to cost nearly $400 million and will likely have the Kings as tenants but not operators, the mayor said Tuesday. The cost of the entire project, which would build a new arena from the ground up, is expected to be far lower than the $600 million proposed to build an arena in 2006 – partly because the recession has lowered construction costs and partly because the plans will call for a "smaller but yet world-class venue" of less than 700,000 square feet that fits the region's needs, according to Mayor Kevin Johnson. Power Balance Pavilion, the Kings’ current home, is 442,000 square feet. "The viability of this project happening in Sacramento is real,"

Power Balance Pavilion isn't being passed by on concert tours or by the National Collegiate Athletic Association because of anything wrong with it physically. The facility is good enough for Lady Gaga and Britney Spears to play there this spring and summer. The arena which has been the long-time home to the Sacramento Kings has many good points, according to people who've spent a lot of time there. However, some big conventions and events, primarily religious conventions, have skipped Sacramento altogether because the arena isn't close to enough hotels. Its money-making capacity is hindered by the smaller number of seats and luxury suites, compared to newer arenas. Other problems exist

Redevelopment projects for the 700 and 800 blocks of K Street cleared a final hurdle on their way to the Sacramento City Council when the city's Preservation Commission approved both Thursday night. The commission called a special meeting to consider the final major design components after both projects were approved by the Planning Commission last week. A City Council vote of approval, which will be set for sometime in June, would mean groundbreaking could finally begin on two key blocks of K Street Mall that have long been eyesores. The projects will add 337 mixed-income apartments in the downtown core, rehab the landmark Bel-Vue Apartments and restore all but one of the building façad

Sacramento Metro Chamber President and CEO Matt Mahood leaves behind a more unified business community as he moves on to take over the helm of the San Jose chamber this summer, colleagues and associates said Tuesday. Mahood, 45, has a reputation for being upbeat and optimistic, even as he's guided the chamber through the recession. He served as a dynamic leader for the organization and a spokesman for the region on local, state and national levels. At 6 feet 7 inches, he towers over many of those he works with in business and politics. He's known for being thoughtful and having an even-handed way for approaching issues in the job he's held for nine years. His most lasting legacy in Sacr

The first time Kevin Johnson was involved in the National Basketball Association draft, he was passed over by the Sacramento Kings. Now mayor of Sacramento, Johnson will represent the Kings at the NBA draft lottery Tuesday. The lottery will be televised on ESPN during a pregame show just before Tuesday night's playoff game in Dallas, when the Oklahoma City Thunder takes on the Dallas Mavericks in game one of the Western Conference finals. The draft lottery portion of the show, which determines the order for the NBA draft June 23, could begin as early as 5:10 p.m. Pacific time. In 1987, Johnson was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who got the seventh pick in the draft. The Sacramento K

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson will represent the Kings at the National Basketball Association draft lottery next week, team owners and the mayor announced at a Tuesday rally. Johnson and developers representing the ICON-Taylor arena team will meet in Las Vegas Wednesday with George Maloof, whose family controls a majority share of the team, to discuss the arena project. The Maloof family owns the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. On stage at a Kings rally in Cesar Chavez Plaza, Gavin and Joe Maloof asked the former NBA All-Star player to step up for them next Tuesday at the draft lottery at the NBA Entertainment studio in Secaucus, N.J. "I accept! I accept! I accept!" Johnson yelled in

Sacramento Jane’s Walk 2011: Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8 Jane’s Walk USA is a series of free neighborhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their environment and with each other, by bridging social and geographic gaps and creating a space for cities to discover themselves. Since its inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in cities across North America, and is growing internationally. Sacramento’s Jane’s Walk series incorporates elements of urban planning, neighborhood advocacy, urban history, and architectural history, to demonstrate how a neighborhood’s physical form promotes its walkability, sustainability and economic and social vitality. All tours are free o

Forces now allied behind the Sacramento Kings gathered steam Tuesday in their collective bid to build a more successful team and move the region closer to constructing a new arena. That effort will be aided by retired Kings player Chris Webber, who said on television Monday night he's lined up private investors to fund a new arena in place of taxpayers. "Within the year, we're going to make some special things happen," Webber said on TNT's "Inside the NBA." "The goal is to keep the team there." Webber hinted about his involvement on Twitter Monday after the Kings' owners announced they'd leave the team here for at least one year to give Sacramento more time to pursue building a new spor

The owners of the Sacramento Kings announced Monday the team will stay put for at least one more season – giving the region and the National Basketball Association time for one final push to build a new arena. NBA officials quickly announced a commitment to make one last effort over the next 10 months to pave the way to replace Power Balance Pavilion. The league is sending nine people to Sacramento Tuesday to provide expert support in the regional effort to construct a new arena and to help the Kings' owners, the Maloofs, lead the team to a successful next season, NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a teleconference Monday afternoon. Kings fans, elected officials and business leaders re