At 401 I Street, Sacramento looms a red-brick visual reminder of the city’s busy past, present and rosier future. Built in 1926, the 68,000 sq ft original Sacramento Valley Station was the terminal of the Central Pacific Railroad, designed by the San Francisco architectural firm of Bliss and Faville for the Southern Pacific Railroad in the Renaissance Revival style.

As part of a grand-scale plan for revitalizing downtown Sacramento, today the city celebrated the grand reopening of the Sacramento Valley Station, showcasing renovations and improvements including the addition of 25,000 square feet of mixed-use leasable space. Not merely a surface renovation, the building’s infrastructure received upgrades as well as new Amtrak offices.

The new, old station improves the experience for rail and transit users and restores treasured features of the building. – City of Sacramento press release 2-20-2017

Members of the media, city staff and workers attended an invitation-only event, arriving to the flowing sounds of jazz serenades, compliments of Dave Bass Music. Speakers included Congresswoman Matsui, Mayor Darrell Steinberg and City councilman Jeff Harris, with the event emceed by Sacramento Republic FC’s Erica Bjork. After the ceremony, the public was invited to tour the improvements.

According to the city, Sacramento Valley Station’s complete makeover was possible thanks to a U.S. Department of Transportation’s $15 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program championed by U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui.

Article by L. R. Styles, Photographer: Steven Styles/ Belator Media