The City of Sacramento ’ s preservation program dates back to 1976 . Before a building can be considered historic , it must be at least 50 years old . “ Not all buildings are eligible for listing , but we have a citywide design review process where we look at alterations to any building that comes in and look to see if it ’ s a historic building ,” says Preservation Director Sean de Courcy . Sacramento has 30 historic districts ; most of them are on the central grid . Beyond age , there are four more criteria to consider : whether the resource embodies significant events in history ; if it is associated with a significant person or individual ; if it has the embodiment of a significant architectural style ; and if it has significant archeological sites or structures that help improve understanding of the past .
Even during the pandemic , de Courcy says historic preservation has been active . He points to the adaptive reuse of the Eastern Star Hall across from Sutter ’ s Fort at 27th and K streets by Sacramento-based architect HRGA , which also worked on the transformation of the historic Marshall Hotel to the Hyatt Centric in Sacramento . The Eastern Star Hall historically served as a women ’ s social organization and is now being converted into a Hyatt House Hotel . The dilapidated building had been vacant for years and was in danger of being demolished . Developer Roger Hume took on the project , adding four stories to the top , while taking painstaking efforts to preserve the outer facade and ornate lobby . The building is expected to open in July 2022 .
“ The extended stay hotel sits directly across from Mercy Hospital and serves this sort of social function for families and people who are getting long-term treatment and also visiting doctors who need to stay for long periods of time . It ’ s a pretty exciting adaptive reuse ,” de Courcy says .
A number of large estate homes in Sacramento that were built before World War II have also been converted into multi-unit buildings . “ We can continue to reuse historic buildings to increase housing supply ,” de Courcy says . “ But there are other intangible things : Historic buildings help connect us to our past , they provide a sense of culture and community and a shared history . And we can ’ t get that back . Once you lose a historic building , it ’ s a non-renewable resource .”
PRESERVING OUR HISTORY
Melisa Gaudreau , preservation architect and associate principal with Page & Turnbull , the first architectural firm in California to dedicate itself to historic preservation , helped establish the Sacramento office in 2006 with the aim of helping to preserve Sacramento ’ s rich architectural history . “ It really is about finding the appropriate future use for these buildings . It ’ s not just preservation of historic spaces so they can land on a national register , but so they can actually be utilized , and in some cases , solve a current challenging issue or be used more efficiently .”
One of Gaudreau ’ s projects that does both is the adaptive reuse of the Capitol Park Hotel . Page & Turnbull was approached by Mercy Housing about repurposing the single room occupancy hotel into permanent housing units for those transitioning from homelessness . The completely restored historic building has undergone a seismic upgrade , an interior renovation and has new mechanical , electrical and plumbing systems . When completed , the adaptive reuse project will include 134 permanent housing units as well as community rooms and a 24 / 7 support staff . Onsite services will be managed by the County of Sacramento and WellSpace Health . The project is expected to be completed at the end of 2022 . “ It ’ s a beautiful building right in the heart of downtown with some very interesting exterior and interior features that will be preserved as part of the original historic character ,” Gaudreau says . Leasable commercial space will be available on the ground floor .
Another Page & Turnbull historic project that got a preservation facelift is the Sacramento Valley Station , the seventh busiest Amtrak station in the U . S . Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the local Sacramento Register of Historic & Cultural Resources , the 1926 Southern Pacific Railroad station building was acquired by the City of Sacramento in 2006 . The Renaissance Revival style building was in a state of disrepair , but had beautiful historic features . The station underwent a two-phase rehabilitation . The first phase , completed in 2012 , was a seismic upgrade . The second phase was completed in 2017 and improved the efficiency of Amtrak ’ s operations . Working as the preservation architect , Page & Turnbull collaborated with the Seattle office of Portland-based ZGF , the architect of record , to design the new space . New customer service and office space was included , along with a restored waiting room and exterior . Improved tenant lease space was added . An original mural depicting the start of the Transcontinental Railroad inside the main waiting room was completely restored . The project received LEED Platinum certification
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