Preservation Sacramento

The Nathaniel Colley office building, at 1810 S Street, designed by James Dodd, Sacramento's first African American architect, was listed in the Sacramento Register yesterday, along with another new landmark, the Giusto Residence in East Sacramento.

Strong words from Sactown Magazine's Rob Turner about the proposed Capitol Annex replacement project.

Sacramento's Montgomery Ward department store at 9th & K, completed in 1936, was the first store in the chain built with an air conditioning system to keep shoppers cool. Today it's being rehabilitated by a new owner, although we don't know yet what uses are planned for the building. The Colonial Revival facade received an extensive rehab and primer coat, while the 8th Street side is still concealed under scaffolding. #preservation #adaptivereuse #kstreet #sacramento

The city of Sacramento is revising its community plans as part of its regular General Plan update. You can comment and participate via this link.

Preservation Sacramento's Board of Directors: Vote No on Sacramento's Measure A "Strong Mayor" The Board of Directors of Preservation Sacramento has taken a position in opposition to Measure A , changing the City of Sacramento's city charter from Council/Manager to Mayor/Council, sometimes called "Strong Mayor." Our concerns, similar to our opposition to 2014's Measure L, are based on our mission, as this measure introduces new obstacles to listing historic properties, and pl...aces greater political pressure on city staff to overlook protections for historic resources. Measure A gives the Mayor the ability to veto any ordinance , including listing of properties in the Sacramento Register or new historic district infill guidelines, even if supported by staff and approved by the City Council. This new, unnecessary layer of government means that those seeking to protect historic properties must also have the direct support of the Mayor, who would not attend Council meetings or be required to hold public meetings, in addition to requiring approval votes by the Preservation Commission and City Council. Listing a historic property or district is already a complex, time-consuming, and expensive process. A mayoral veto creates another obstacle to protecting historic properties, especially if an opponent to listing is a powerful campaign donor with better access to the mayor than the general public or small nonprofit organizations. Measure A also allows the Mayor to fire the City Manager at will, and to create the city budget. This increases the potential for the mayor's largest donors and political supporters to exert pressure on city staff, via the Mayor's control of city bureaucracy. Instead of working independently of city politics and without fear of retribution, city staff will have to be wary of offending the Mayor's friends, or risk loss of budget funding for their department or even termination of employment. Because historic preservation sometimes becomes controversial, city staff would become more wary of protecting historic resources that stand in the way of a favored campaign contributor's project. As a volunteer-run, membership-based historic preservation nonprofit, Preservation Sacramento generally does not take positions on ballot measures unless there is a connection to our core mission, protecting Sacramento's historic properties. But as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, we do have the ability to take an official position in support or opposition to ballot measures. After much discussion, the Board members present at our October meeting voted unanimously to take a position of opposition to this measure, and we encourage or members and supporters to Vote NO on Sacramento's Measure A. Learn more about opposition to Measure A here: https://www.nowaymeasurea.com/

This year's CPF Preservation Awards will be held online: several Sacramento projects, including the Bel-Vue Apartments and the City of Sacramento's Historic District Plan updates, are among this year's winners.

From the Sacramento News & Review, more information about the Old City Cemetery, including a proposal to replace the rose gardens with turf and decomposed granite, being heard at tonight's Preservation Commission meeting. See the link in the comment below this post for public comment information on tonight's meeting, including phone number to speak to the Commission and eComment link.

The City of Sacramento's Preservation Commission meets this Wednesday, September 16, at 5:30 PM. On this month's agenda are city landmark nominations for the Nathaniel Colley law office on S Street in Richmond Grove, the Giusto family residence in McKinley Park, a Preservation Assessment and Five-Year Plan for the City Cemetery, and a final draft of the Sacramento Valley Station Master Plan. Staff reports, agenda, and eComment links via the link below.

The West Broadway Specific Plan was approved by the Sacramento City Council on Tuesday, August 25. Despite enormous amounts of public comment, two controversial elements of this plan, a new street map that would require demolition of most of the district, and a Statement of Overriding Consideration justifying demolition of the district, were retained in the plan. However, the news is not all bad. Because of the widespread community outrage over the potential loss of New Helve...Continue reading

Will Sacramento Capitol Park Lose Over 100 Significant Trees? (From our friends at California Preservation Foundation) Register NOW for Paula Peper's presentation "Will Sacramento's Capitol Park Lose Over 100 Significant Trees?" on September 3, 2020 from 11:30-1:00, hosted on GoToMeeting by the PAC Annex Group. Register to listen or watch the webinar via the link below....Continue reading

Sacramento's Merchant Alley historic district extends from J Street to K Street approximately from 7th to 8th Street, centered on the alley between J and K which served as a commercial street. The district was recently expanded to include recently rehabilitated buildings on the 700 block of K Street, including the restored Tower Records mural that now decorates the entrance to Solomon's Delicatessen.

Join the Fight to Protect New Helvetia! City Council Votes on West Broadway Specific Plan Tuesday August 25, 5 PM The West Broadway Specific Plan will have its final hearing by the Sacramento City Council on Tuesday, August 25 at 5:00 PM. We encourage our members to contact city staff, councilmembers, and the Mayor, and ask them to (1) Remove the option to demolish New Helvetia from the Specific Plan, and the street map that would require demolition in the case of redevelopme...Continue reading

Support for #SaveNewHelvetia continues to grow: "A group of nine women dressed in the attire of the iconic Rosie the Riveter character of World War II gathered on Aug. 18 at the historic, Land Park area New Helvetia public housing project to express their support of the preservation of those structures. This event occurred a week ahead of the Sacramento City Council’s vote on the city’s proposed revitalization plan that could lead to the demolition of these decades-old Broadway structures that were built during World War II. The selection of the Rosie the Riveter character for last week’s gathering was additionally fitting, considering that these buildings were initially used as defense housing during that war."