SAVE Capitol Towers! Important Hearings this Week!

April 11, 2015

UPDATE 4.20.15 – Planning and Design Commission continued their “Review and Comment” hearing until 4.30.15.

MEANWHILE…. SacMod has submitted comments to the City of Sacramento regarding Sacramento Commons Draft Environmental Impact Report.

2015.04.20 DEIR.Response.SacMod (PDF)

…………………………………………………………………………..

IMPORTANT HEARINGS REGARDING CAPITOL TOWERS THIS WEEK! Please join us in support of Capitol Towers Historic District and in opposition of the Sacramento Commons proposal to demolish the historic district.

1) Wednesday, 4/15/15 — Preservation Commission — 5:30pm New City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento, 1st Floor. The Preservation Commission will weigh in on both the Capitol Towers Historic District local landmarking and Sacramento Commons’ request for demolition.

2) Thursday, 4/16/15 — Planning and Design Commission — 5:30pm New City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento, 1st Floor. The P+D Commission will weigh in on Sacramento Commons’ request for demolition.

Written comments are also accepted. Please cc SacMod: info (at) SacMod (dot) org:

1) Preservation Commission email list
http://portal.cityofsacramento.org/Community-Development/Meetings/Preservation%20Commission?hc_location=ufi

2) P+D Commission email list:
http://portal.cityofsacramento.org/Community-Development/Meetings/Planning%20and%20Design?hc_location=ufi

Here is a template letter for your convenience, in Word, Pages, and PDF.

Letter-of-Support-of-M15-001-and-Opposition-to-P14-12 (Word)
Letter-of-Support-of-M15-001-and-Opposition-to-P14-12 (Pages)
Letter-of-Support-of-M15-001-and-Opposition-to-P14-12 (PDF)

Capitol Towers Officially Declared Historic District!

January 16, 2015

Sacramento Modern (“SacMod”) is pleased to announce that Capitol Towers — a thriving park neighborhood and urban oasis near Capitol Mall — has been determined eligible to be on the National Register of Historic Places. As a result, the district is also listed in the California Register of Historic Resources.

SacMod continues to seek protections at the local level by requesting that the City of Sacramento include Capitol Towers on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources. This pending decision temporarily prevents demolition permits from being granted for parcel numbers relating to the historic district until the matter is voted upon by the City of Sacramento Preservation Commission and City Council.

Continue reading →

Preservation Commission Supports Capitol Towers Historic District!

October 16, 2014

Many thanks to the City of Sacramento Preservation Commission, who unanimously voted at their 10.15.14 meeting to write a letter of support for the nomination of Capitol Towers to the National Register of Historic Places!

SacMod also suggested during the meeting via an application submitted to the City of Sacramento Preservation Director that Capitol Towers Historic District be listed on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources.

Join SacMod for two 2014 AIACV Experience Architecture Week events!

October 9, 2014

Bateson.1981ProgArch.PhotobyRobSuper — The Bateson Building is one of several buildings featured on the Drawing Safari, October 12, 2014. Photo © Rob Super

Sacramento Modern (SacMod) will be teaming up with the Central Valley Chapter of American Institute of Architects (AIACV) for two great events this October: a Drawing Safari on October 12th and a film screening of “The Vision of Paulo Soleri: Prophet In The Desert” on October 13th!

What exactly is Experience Architecture Week? AIACV President Kris Barkley explains here and here.

Continue reading →

Capitol Towers Preservation Update!

August 26, 2014

Overlay of historic Capitol Towers master plan circa 1964 with Google satellite view circa 2014, by Dane Henas/SacMod

Due to the efforts of preservationists and neighbors, Capitol Towers is now subject to a full Environmental Impact Review (EIR). As of August 2014, we have also made progress with our assertion that the neighborhood is a historic resource.

Read more about Sac Mod’s response to the proposed project and our efforts to protect Capitol Towers and Garden Apartments, including our nomination of the neighborhood to the National Register of Historic Places.

SacMod Advises City : Protect Historic Urban Oasis

July 20, 2014

Capitol Towers and Garden Apartments as they appear today. Photo SacMod

A new proposed project seeks to destroy a thriving and historic mid-century modern neighborhood in our urban core that is already a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly mixed-use community.

Circa 1964 photo of Capitol Towers and Garden Apartments by Sirlin Studios — Capitol Towers and Garden Apartments circa 1964. Photo Sirlin Studios

Blast from the Past: El Mirador Hotel Brochure

July 1, 2014

Across from the State Capitol, this swanky mid-20th century modern hotel boasted 14 floors, three cocktail lounges, two swimming pools, fine dining at the Granada Room, and luxurious materials such as mahogany walls and Italian glass mosaic in the coffee shop. It was completed in 1957 and was built by contractor/developer Fred Kaiser with the help of structural engineer Gordon H. Klippel.

This glamorous site was home to the Sky Room, with sweeping views of the State Capitol and park. Politicians and lobbyists enjoyed “Moose Milk” — an extravagant lunch with an open bar on Thursdays — and then chased naked ladies down the hallways in the evenings. Patrons at the Lower Bar enjoyed underwater ballet performed by gorgeous women via a large glass wall to one of the swimming pools.

Nothing was too over-the-top during the good old days at the El Mirador! There was even music and dancing on the roof! The round-the-clock party did finally end in 1969; and the hotel was remodeled in the 70s. The hotel is now Park Place Senior Community.

Adaptive Re-Use of a Former Dairy Queen Building

June 28, 2014

picture courtesy of Wendy Weitzel, Davis Enterprise

It’s great to see Indigo Hammond + Playle Architects reusing the great wavy roofline and cinderblock from the old Dairy Queen on 5th Street in Davis for their new office space. Who doesn’t have fond memories of a dipped DQ cone? We’d like to see more adaptive re-use of midcentury architecture in our area! Thanks to Wendy Weitzel of the Davis Enterprise Comings & Goings column for her report below and the picture.

Office space for Indigo Hammond + Playle Architects will fill the longtime Dairy Queen location at 909 Fifth St .. [K]eeping the exterior lines of the building and adding on, creating an office space for its business. Contractors have cleaned out the interior and removed the front walls and windows.

Here’s the Dairy Queen in its dairy days:

Food Circus

June 26, 2014

Hello from Arden Fair Mall’s Food Circus, circa 1960s! — where you can “Eat like an elephant for peanuts”! Designed by Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects for the Kassis Brothers, this area featured restaurants such as: Arden Fair Bake Shop, Bar-B-Que Chicken, Cork & Bottle Liquor Store, Country Candies, Carnation Ice Cream Bar, die Rheinlander, Frank’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Food Circus Card & Gift Shop, Frank Fat’s Chinese Food, Frank’s Chicken Ranch, Hof Bauer, Health Bar, Hot Dog On A Stick, Jumbo’s Coffee Shop, La Plaza Mexican Kitchen, Pagluica’s Italian Kitchen, Stop-N-Shop Market, The Steak Pit, The Nut Shop, Tastee Donut Parlor, and Ye Old Pastry Shop.