Mayor Steinberg Presents New Sacramento Waterfront Plans
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — It is the new vision for Old Sacramento. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced to a crowd of supporters standing on the riverfront the changes he will push to bring to Downtown Sacramento.
"For decades, for decades, we have talked and talked, and talked, about our waterfront," Steinberg said.
The mayor came a step closer to delivering on a campaign promise, by firing up supporters seeking to make Old Sacramento new again, a place where more people want to go.
"And I've said from the beginning, I say it tonight, I'll say it on Tuesday, I'll say it for the next year, that next destination needs to be the Sacramento waterfront," Steinberg said.
Steinberg's unveiled plans and renderings include new floating terraces on the Sacramento River, a new history museum event deck, and a new festival lawn and stage.
Swipe through the renderings of the new Waterfront
He's asking the city council to approve $47 million in hotel tax funds to pay for the plans.
"You know we used to use I-5 as the excuse, you can see by those incredible drawings, that we don't need any excuses, we just have to do it," Steinberg said.
The Sacramento waterfront was cut off from the rest of downtown Sacramento in the 1960s, to build Interstate 5. City planners then made promises including the construction of a Fisherman's Wharf and riverfront housing.
Five decades later, only Interstate 5 now stands, and it's blamed for failed efforts to bring people back to the river.
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Preservation Sacramento's William Burg was at the mayor's waterfront unveiling. He says the plans do not show enough detail and that most successful Sacramento historic districts are neighborhoods where people live.
"I wasn't sure what was announced today, it was big on enthusiasm, short on specifics," Burg said. "The best advocates, the best promoters for any neighborhood are the people who live there."
Mayor Steinberg is asking the city council to approve the funding for the riverfront development this Tuesday. He says he expects to see construction begin within the next couple of years.