City leaders approve funding to revamp Old Sacramento waterfront

FILE — Plans to update the Old Sacramento waterfront include a waterfront park, a festival lawn, an interactive fountain, a playground for kids and adults, and much more. FILE — Plans to update the Old Sacramento waterfront include a waterfront park, a festival lawn, an interactive fountain, a playground for kids and adults, and much more. Photo: Davel5957/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photo: Davel5957/Getty Images/iStockphoto Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close City leaders approve funding to revamp Old Sacramento waterfront 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — The Sacramento City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to revamp the Old Sacramento waterfront.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg said council members approved using $42 million in hotel taxes to fund the revitalization of the area.

"A study by consulting firm Keyser Marston Associates commissioned by the city estimated that tax revenues from Old Sacramento could jump from $700,000 to $4.2 million annually if the proposed improvements are made and the city also succeeds in attracting private development to nearby vacant parcels," Steinberg's office of civic engagement said in a blog post.

Plans to update the area include a waterfront park, a festival lawn, an interactive fountain, a playground for kids and adults, and much more.

"Successful historic districts are successful because they attract people by the millions," Waterfront Manager Richard Rich said in the blog post.

The city recently hosted a design competition in which they asked professional and amateur designers to share their visions for the area along the Sacramento River. Then, Sacramento residents voted on their favorite designs.

Design group Perkins Eastman won the $5,000 prize for the People's Choice Award with their "Sacto H2O" concept. The plan included public plazas, markets, a pier extending off K Street and a pedestrian bridge south of the Tower Bridge.

City staff considered the ideas submitted by contest entrants and then made recommendations to the city council members about what would be best to revamp the Old Sacramento waterfront.

Steinberg announced his plans to fund the revitalization on Thursday and presented it at the council meeting on Tuesday.

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This story originally appeared on KCRA.