SACRAMENTO-
Old Sacramento merchants hope to benefit from the construction of a downtown arena three blocks away, but they are also trying to enhance the walkability of the historic site, which is home to 120 businesses.
That’s a task made tougher because the boardwalk along the waterfront needs to be replaced in the next year of so. City officials haven’t decided what to put in its place, but they are looking at a lower maintenance alternative whether it’s a composite wood or pressed concrete.
Unlike the wooden sidewalks, which are easy to replace and repair, the boardwalk is made of heavy railroad ties that are hard to replace.
The 28-year-old boardwalk is disintegrating in some places creating splinters and wide grooves. That makes it hard for children and older pedestrians to walk. It can also be an obstacle for wheelchairs and baby-walkers.
“I think it looks nice. I think it looks rustic,” Old Sacramento visitor Lindsey Walsh said Monday.
Walsh said it needed to be replaced to make it easier to walk. But not only is the boardwalk expensive to maintain, it’s not historically accurate. Old photographs from around 1880 show that the area where the board walk now sits was a levee with trees growing on it. The docks were made of wood, but there was no sign of a wooden walkway the width the current boardwalk.
“I think it fits Old Sacramento, but if it’s not historic, I guess it doesn’t fit,” Walsh said.
Kyle Catlin was visiting Old Sacramento with his wife and young daughter. They said the Old Sacramento look is wood and bricks.
“I like the way it looks,” Catlin said. “If they put concrete, it’s not really going to look like Old Sacramento. It’s just going to change everything.”
Old Sacramento Business Association executive director Chris McSwain said he is confident that the over-all look of the area will remain the same. He said merchants are monitoring proposals to improve the lighting in the tunnel that connects downtown with Old Sacramento so that arena goers can feel comfortable walking to and from restaurants and other businesses in the historic district.
“People have asked for more lighting. They’ve asked for it to be improved in order for them to feel comfortable using it,” McSwain said.
While police reports show there is very little crime in the 100 yard long tunnel, the perception is that it’s unsafe. It’s a perception that the city will try to change as the arena construction moves forward.
Other transportation projects may aid Old Sacramento. Plans are going forward for a new ramp that will take traffic from Capitol Mall directly on to 2nd Street in Old Sacramento. A street car planned from West Sacramento to the arena site and beyond will skirt Old Sacramento and bring more pedestrians to the area.