As a Sacramento resident keenly interested in the history of K Street from the gold rush to the present, I have read many opinions regarding the best ways to fix the ongoing problems of K Street. Some have been proposed recently, ideas that I view with a mixture of amusement and horror. Most involve returning to the mistakes of the past while clearly avoiding its successes. In order to take the best from the past while avoiding some of its mistakes, I have selected some favorites. I can take credit for none of them, as they are all ideas that have been suggested at other times and places, but they seem like the best of the lot to me. This ten-point plan varies in scope from the very simple

On Tuesday, August 25, the Sacramento City Council will hear a proposal by developers Bob Leach and Parkcrest Development to build a hotel at the corner of 8th and K Street and a parking structure at the corner of 8th and L Street, a project that would require demolition of city landmark the Bel-Vue Apartments and adjacent buildings. The meeting will be held at New City Hall, 915 I Street, at 6:00 PM in the main City Council chambers. The item was originally to be heard at the August 11 meeting of the City Council (see sacramentopress.com/headline/11884/City_to_decide_on_fate_of_BelVue_Apartments_and_Berry_Hotel_today ) but was taken off the agenda at the last minute. According to the sta

On Tuesday, August 11, the Sacramento city council will decide whether to give away the half-block from K to L on 8th Street, containing the Bel-Vue Apartments and several other buildings to developers Bob Leach, Mohammed Mohanna and Parkcrest Development. The land was recently purchased by the city from Mohanna at a price of $18.6 million, and the developers are asking not only for free land but several years of tax-free operation. The net cost to the city will be about $34 million, 25% of the total investment for the project, in return for about 10% of the return. The proposed project is a 300-foot luxury hotel at 8th and K and a parking lot on 8th & L where the Bel-Vue stands. The proje

A quick ride along Front Street south of the Tower Bridge reveals that all three of the projects in that area are proceeding apace, giving even the casual visitor a sense of what our riverfront development is going to look like in the very near future. With the death yesterday of Charles Gwathmey, the architect behind the new Crocker addition, we wanted to share these photos, taken, unbeknownst to us, on what would be the day of his passing. First is the new Crocker addition, which will triple the size of the museum, and more importantly, create a modern new presence that is visible from I-5 as well as from the riverfront area. Last week, crews started adding the metal facing that

The Sacramento-based California Redevelopment Association is preparing to sue the state over a "devastating" $2.05 billion in redevelopment funds that state leaders want to be redirected to schools. On Friday, the California State Legislature passed a budget that includes a provision ordering city and county redevelopment agencies to transfer $1.7 billion in property tax revenues in fiscal year 2009/10 and $350 million in 2010/11, said state Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor. The budget was crafted to close a $24 billion to $26 billion hole in the state's finances. The order would siphon at least $20 million away from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, a joint powers authority

The city of Sacramento has won $55.8 million in Proposition 1C funds for infill redevelopment, the city announced late Tuesday. On Monday, the California Department of Housing and Community Development approved money to help fund infrastructure for four projects: the Railyards, Township 9, Curtis Park Village and Capitol Lofts. Proposition 1C was approved by voters in November 2006. The $6 billion Railyards project will get about $30 million, said city spokesperson Wendy Klock-Johnson. The new funding brings the project's total public bond funding to at least $115 million. “This is a step in the right direction for our city in terms of economic development and creation of employment op

Work is moving forward to bring a mermaid bar and other nightlife venues to troubled K Street Mall, while the city attempts to address a lawsuit over the development. At the end of May, developers David Taylor and Los Angeles-based CIM Group finished the first stage of interior work for the controversial project to redevelop long-vacant buildings at 1012 K St. and 1016 - 1022 K St. Crews cleaned up contaminants including asbestos and lead and also took down some inside walls. The developers are now working on construction drawings to gain approval to bring the shell and core up to code. They are expected to submit the drawings to the city in August to show how they plan to meet the city'

Standing on Front Street, Beth Tincher was more than satisfied to survey riverfront construction this week. The project manager of the city's Docks Area Project and Riverfront Promenade watched construction workers set the promenade's concrete retaining wall and a circular seating wall that'll soon surround a water feature centerpiece playing off the city's historic waterfront. "I'm excited, because it's been a long time in the making," said Tincher, standing south of Tower Bridge. "It's pretty amazing to come out to the site and see what this could be -- the potential of this highly under-utilized old brownfield site." Sacramentans will get more than simply a mile of bike-and pedestria

One woman wanted to know if the Crystal Ice warehouse is going to be "totaled." Andy Wasserman wondered how a new market plaza would impact Fremont Park just one block over. And Linda Hinchey was concerned about whether she'd be priced out of the neighborhood, as well as how the sidewalk drainage system would impact her ability to motor her wheelchair to Safeway. "I'm glad to see that there's improvement going on in the neighborhood," said the 65-year-old, who lives on a fixed-income on 17th Street. "I hope some of it is going to be affordable." They were among the 40 to 50 people who attended the first public meeting regarding the R Street Market Plaza Wednesday evening. The Market Pl

The Sacramento County Historical Society Presents: M Street and Sacramento's West End When: Tomorrow, April 28, 7:00 PM Where: Sacramento Valley Medical Society Building 5380 Elvas Avenue Sacramento, CA 95819 Cost: Free What/Why: At this month's Sacramento County Historical Society meeting, SCHS President William Burg will present a historical perspective of the evolution of M Street/Capitol Avenue between the 1850s and the 1950s. Drawing on photographs mostly from the Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center (SAMCC,) the presentation will cover the area's early residential neighborhood, featuring the homes of prominent Sacramentans like Leland Stanford and E.B. Crocker, the indu

Though it seems like an Onion story at first glance, downtown Sacramento's first ever mermaid tank may soon be constructed. Developers now await $8.6 million in funds from the City of Sacramento for the proposed construction of a pizza joint ("Pizza Rock"), a nightclub ("Frisky Rhythm") and a bar with a live mermaid tank ("Dive Bar"). Tuesday, the City Council will hear arguments supporting and opposing the project, brought about when the City of Sacramento sold its interests in the Sheraton Hotel to local developer David Taylor, of David Taylor Interests Inc., promising to set aside some of the proceeds for future David Taylor Interests construction projects like this one. Taylor was app

On Tuesday Feb. 24, the City Council authorized the purchase of the Berry Hotel from its latest owners, developer AF Evans. Despite the efforts of the developer to restore the hotel and maintain its use as housing for those with very low incomes, the city will soon close the Berry, without a plan to reopen it. Built in 1929, the Berry was part of Sacramento's downtown hotel district, interspersed with theaters and department stores on the blocks near K Street. The Berry and other hotels like the Clunie, the Land, the Sacramento and the Clayton offered nightly rooms to some, while others were rented on a monthly basis. In the era after World War II, downtown hotels faded in popularity comp

Talking to people who grew up in Sacramento in the 1930s-1950s exposed me to an aspect of Sacramento that I never expected. Despite its reputation as a place without much nightlife, Sacramento has a long history as a town that stayed open late, played as hard as it worked, and was seldom short of musical entertainment. At some point Sacramento got a reputation for being stodgy and unexciting, and most of us who grew up here assumed that was the case, but the historical evidence simply doesn’t back that up. The best description of Sacramento night life in its early days comes from Mark Twain: Territorial Enterprise, February 1866 LETTER FROM SACRAMENTO [dated February 25, 1866] ”I arrived