Applications for the 4th, and possibly final, round of the City of Sacramento Historic Places Grant Program are due by 4:00 p.m., Friday, January 16, 2009. Application forms are available on the City Web site at www.cityofsacramento.org/preservation.
Author, Historian & SOCA Board member William Burg will be at Ivy House, 5601 H Street, on Saturday December 13th at 1:00 PM to give a talk on his latest book - Sacramento Then & Now
Book Description:
California’s capital city, Sacramento, has played many roles over time, including Gold Rush boomtown, railroad terminus, regional industrial center, and seat of state government. These varied roles meant dramatic changes as the city grew outward and upward.
Author Bio: Using photographs provided by the Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center, historian William Burg, author of Arcadia’s Sacramento’s Streetcars and Sacramento’s Southside Park, shows how a Gold Rush trading post and a crumbling fort quickly became a metropolitan center and the capital of California.
Copies will be available for sale & the author will be on hand to sign them from 1:00 PM until about 3:00 PM.
Ivy House - 5601 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, (916) 737-0895
Hours: Monday - Friday 10: 00 to 6:00 Saturday 10:00 to 5:00 - Sunday 12:00 to 5:00.
The Sacramento Old City Association extends a warm thank you to the over 100 volunteers as well as vendors and performers who made this years tour a wonderful experience and another success.
The 2008 annual SOCA Home Tour was held Sunday, September 21st in the Winn Park Historic District and Capitol Mansion area in Midtown Sacramento. Each year SOCA showcases some of the finest architecture the old city has to offer, both historic and contemporary - a tribute to our heritage and a celebration of our future. Some of the homes featured on this years tour can be seen in the 2008 home tour gallery, accessible by clicking the gallery link at the top of this page. One of the Sutter Brownstones by Loftworks was open as well. The historic Saint Francis of Assisi Church was open for viewing in the afternoon as well. Tour guests received a printed brochure with a tour map and illustrated histories of all the sites on the tour. A street fair featuring home restoration specialists, energy efficiency experts, stained glass and woodwork artisans, craft persons and musicians was held a the Freemont School at the corner of 24th and N Streets.
Everyone is invited to the Preservation Roundtable, an activity of the Sacramento Old City Assn. and organized by SOCA Board Member Kathleen Green. David Mogavero, a past president of SOCA, will present issues that seem to be at the heart of many Board discussions.
Saturday, Dec. 13th
9:00a – 12:00 Noon
at the Stanford Gallery
(the bldg. just west of the Museum)
Old Sacramento-dressed in its Christmas finery
Featured Speaker: David Mogavero, Architect
“Ecological Building” + “City Scale & Building Scale Issues”
also “Economic Aspects of Urban Form”
Reports & Announcements w/discussion on “Minimum Maintenance of Historic Properties” & Neighborhood involvement
Juice, rolls, coffee served -$5 Donation
Students attend free w/valid ID
Event Contacts: Linda Whitney – 441-7883 owcathouse@aol.com
Kathleen Green – 442-1117 kdgreenone@yahoo.com
Living in the Central City, you probably live in an old house with original lath and plaster walls. And if your house is like the one my wife and I own, some of your walls may be cracked and in need of repair. In our case, we have a guestroom that had walls that were home to a spider web of cracks. And though they were annoying, they weren’t bad enough to put that project at the top of my “honey do” list –especially given what I’d heard about the work involved in repairing them correctly. So, year, after year, I ignored the cracks, focusing on other projects. Then, two things happened to get me motivated to fix up the room. First was the impending visit of a guest and the other was an episode of “Ask This Old House,” a show that answers viewers’ questions about old home challenges. I had to get the room ready for our guest and the show showed me how – using Big Wally’s Plastermagic. (more…)
This post was written by Historian William Burg and also available at www.sacramentohistory.blogspot.com
One point I tend to repeat again and again is that most “new urbanist” ideas are simply the way that we used to build cities a century ago, and alley units, as we see, are no exception. However, Drucker wants to add a few twists to the concept that make the idea a positive one in many areas, including urban infill, energy conservation, affordable ownership, and historic preservation.
This brings me to the portion of this idea dearest to my own interests. One of the problems with all of the attention on midtown development is that owners of central city homes face great pressure as land values rise. Some developers engage in lot consolidation, buying several adjacent lots with the intent of demolishing the buildings. When demolition permits are too hard to secure via normal channels because the buildings are historic, occupied and/or intact, many buildings fall victim to “demolition by neglect”: buildings are allowed to remain vacant, decay and fall into disrepair until either the city can be persuaded to allow demolition or an “accidental” fire simply eliminates the house.
Alley development reduces this economic pressure by making lot consolidation and demolition less appealing. It allows a great increase in overall density in the central city: potentially, five total units could be placed on a 40×160 lot (about 36 DUA.) So a lot with a single-family home could add 4 units in the back, a duplex could add 3 units, and so on–a lot with an existing fourplex could even add a fifth single-unit “granny flat” in the back. But all this density could be achieved without demolishing a single existing structure. And because of the economic benefit for the owner of the property, projects like restoration of existing properties becomes much more economically feasible: an extra $100K goes a long way to restoring a faded Queen Anne or Craftsman bungalow to its original grandeur, money that would otherwise have to come from other sources. It makes historic homes a lot easier to preserve, and reduces reasons to knock them down.
This 2008 Historic Windows Workshop at the Sierra 2 Center will be held twice, first on Saturday, October 25, and again on Sunday, October 26. These all-day events will be active learning experiences, where participants will rotate from the classroom to various stations, and see in practice the hands-on techniques of basic repair, maintenance, weatherization, and restoration of historic wood windows. Volunteer instructors from the community will demonstrate how they worked on their own windows, preserved the character of their historic homes, and saved their pocketbooks! Reservations are required as space is limited. The fee of $20 helps defray costs, and includes lunch. For further information, visit www.Sierra2.org, email historicwindows@Sierra2.org, or call the Sierra 2 office at 452-3005.
The Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA) was born in 1972, when downtown homeowners discovered they could not obtain financing from lending institutions to restore and rehabilitate their homes. Lenders at the time did not consider central city homes worthy of investment. These pioneers banded together and formed SOCA, and because of their efforts, many of the city’s historic homes and civic landmarks have been saved and restored.
Today, our mission continues. SOCA engages in action that preserves and enhances the quality of life for city residents, businesses and visitors by promoting harmonious relationships among residential and commercial interests in the ‘old city’.
SOCA is an all volunteer organization. Members devote their time to increasing public awareness of the irreplaceable historic and cultural resources of the city. Other activities include advocating appropriate policies that ensure a quality urban environment that is respectful of our historic buildings and traditional neighborhoods.
The following have demanded our attention in recent years: Restoration of the Memorial Auditorium, The Railyards, implementation of the R Street Plan, plans to keep the historic Southern Pacific Rail Depot as a functioning passenger rail station, and many other projects that focus attention on the need to preserve and protect our historic places.
Yes!! I want to enhance the liveability of the Central City and preserve historic buildings and the cultural hertitage of Sacramento.
To join, please send your check or money order to:
Sacramento Old City Association
P.O. Box 162140
Sacramento, CA 95816
Please include a note with your email address so we can let you know about upcoming events
Annual membership dues are:
$ 15 Student or annual income below $15,000
$ 30 Individual/ household
$ 50 Supporter
$ 100 Sponsor
Thank you for your support.
On Monday, August 11, 2008, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett presented Mayor Heather Fargo with the City’s official Preserve America Community designation certificate signed by First Lady Laura Bush.
The ceremony was at the Stanford Mansion with several state and local dignitaries attending.
Said Mayor Fargo at the ceremony: “Sacramento is honored to be designated as a Preserve America Community. This designation recognizes Sacramento’s efforts to preserve its rich and diverse heritage. It will help to enhance Sacramento’s heritage tourism programs in collaboration with our partners, California State Parks, the California Cultural Heritage Tourism Council and the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau, among others. On behalf of the City, I thank First Lady Laura Bush, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Lynn Scarlett, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation for their recognition of Sacramento as a Preserve America Community.” (more…)