Dec 10

Dec 10 As public design competition launches, Mayor says 2019 will be 'breakout year' for the waterfront

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Citing millions of dollars in additional City funding that is coming available in the next few months, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Monday that 2019 would be the “breakout year” for the Sacramento waterfront.

Mayor Steinberg appeared with Vice Mayor Steve Hansen and other City leaders Monday morning at a press conference at the Old Sacramento Waterfront Embarcadaro, where they announced that five design firms have been awarded $10,000 each to come up with ideas for remaking Sacramento’s waterfront so it better connects to the rest of the City and provides more amenities for residents.

“We have a renewed City commitment and something we have not had in a long time— money,” Mayor Steinberg said.

The City is expected to have between $10 million and $30 million in hotel taxes left over from the C3 project — the combined renovation of the Convention Center, Community Center Theater and Memorial Auditorium, The money could be available as soon as February or March.

Mayor Steinberg said he and his colleagues on the Council are working on a plan to deposit that money in a “Destination Sacramento” fund.

“My first call for that fund is going to be to use it to get started in 2019 with the Sacramento riverfront,” Mayor Steinberg said.

Sacramento has yet to come up with a plan for what it wants to do along the Sacramento River between the Crocker Art Museum and the Powerhouse Science Center now under construction north of downtown The design competition unveiled Monday is designed to help fuel that process.

Members of the public are also invited to submit their ideas for the waterfront. Submissions are due on March 22, 2019 and could win up to $6,000 in prize money. Click here for more details.

Vice Mayor Hansen said the firms chosen to work on the waterfront project represent the “best and the brightest” in Sacramento’s design community. They include teams led by Atlas Lab Inc., Stantec, The Hettema Group, Perkins Eastman and LPA Design Studios.