The "New" Sacramento Depot - With Pictures!

Earlier this week, the City of Sacramento updated the Sacramento Valley Station project website (www.sacramentovalleystation.com) with the results of the Public Workshop meeting that took place on February 6th. Otherwise known as "The Path to Progress," the station project is broken into three phases and is part of the overall Sacramento Railyards Redevelopment, which is the largest urban infill project in the United States.



Phase one of the station project is already completed, which was the (much lamented) full relocation of the tracks and platforms to the same exact location of the original Central Pacific station location which the current (1926-era) Southern Pacific depot replaced. This was done for a variety of reasons (mostly political, but also because Union Pacific was going to move the tracks for their mainline regardless and if Sacramento wanted to continue using the old platforms they would have to pony up the cost for the design and construction of two interlockings to divert passenger trains onto a station branchline.) If one does a little searching you could locate the other options for Phase II that included moving the entire existing depot 1200' north to once again be track-side (tremendously expensive; cancelled,) building a new station head house and abandoning the current depot to be used for non-transportation redevelopment (this ran afoul of several zoning requirements while also being more expensive in the long-run due to less Federal grant opportunities; cancelled,) and finally retrofitting and rebuilding the current depot for mixed-use retail and transportation (the approved plan, which cleared the way for this version Phase II.)

There were four separate sets of prospective blueprints for the interior remodel presented for the public meeting. Input was taken on the pros and cons of each, and the main two themes for all options were strongly to keep the transportation aspect of the station central, while dividing the remaining 60% (which is currently abandoned,) of the building into retail and market space.

The final result was this:

• The West Wing (former station restaurant) will be completely converted into Amtrak's company space. The ground floor will have ticketing counters, baggage counter and room, records vaults, police substation with holding cell, bus office, engineer's office, and station master's office. The second floor (currently does not exist over this space, and will be new construction,) will have locker rooms, an employee lounge, conductor's briefing space, kitchen, train master's office, and misc. offices.
• The former "lobby" between the waiting room, restaurant and ladies lounge (all currently abandoned,) will become the ticket counter lobby. The former ladies lounge will be the baggage claim area (no word on if there will be carrousels,) which will have access doors to the restored porch/concourse for arriving bus and train passengers that do not require going through the waiting room.
• The main waiting room will mostly be unmodified, and the historic wooden benches will be refinished and restored. They will also retain the steam radiator heaters. The biggest impact on this space will be the restoration of the doors leading out to the north for arriving and departing passengers, as will be the restoration of the former Southern Pacific ticket counter location on the east side of the room (beneath the wall mural,) for use by an undetermined vendor (information booth/rental car counter?)
• Restrooms will remain in their current location, but substantially remodeled and improved.
• The current office space used by Amtrak at the north side of the waiting room will be completely removed and demolished. This area historically never had any offices and instead was a large outdoor porch; this will be restored. As such, there will be three doors leading out instead of the current one, plus the side door leading into the baggage claim room.
• The former tunnel to the platforms will be filled in and abandoned, and changes the previous plans to reuse the tunnel for passenger access. The enclosed glass structure around the tunnel entrance will be retained, with plans for a restaurant/cafe area (though I think this is foolish, as this makes for a most ideal location to establish a Metropolitan Lounge. I'm already writing both Amtrak and the project board about this suggestion!)
• The former baggage and shipment warehouse in the East Wing, as well as the former Southern Pacific offices on the first and second floors will be made into retail space. The idea is to create a "Farmers Market" feel that is not all that different from Chicago's French Market located in Metra's section of Union Station.
• The smaller office section on the second and third floors will be leased out to private interests.

The full PDF document showing these final plans is located here: Sacramento Valley Station Phase II Floor Plans.

This sounds lovely. I will be glad to see the last of that grubby old tunnel, and glad to have more light as it seems they will. I hope they will take your suggestion for a Metropolitan Lounge, but since SAC is not a terminus, I doubt they will.

For some reason this photo reminds me of Philadelphia 30th Street station.

Wonder what they plan to do to improve parking around the station, which looks grubby now and can be quite expensive.

Thanks for posting this information. I hope that your suggestion for a Metropolitan Lounge in Sacramento gains traction.

Sigh. I don't like the carving up of the grand restaurant space. But I suppose this is as good as any of the other designs which were proposed, all of which carved it up.

A Metropolitan Lounge here would definitely be a good idea; it is the connection point between the California Zephyr, the Coast Starlight, and the San Joaquins. And it is in fact a terminus for the San Joaquins.

They'll need to improve the pathway to the new tunnel under the new tracks. Does it still go wriggling around to avoid fouling the former platforms? If it ran straight that would help some.

The quarter-mile walk is still an absurdity. Arguably the Metropolitan Lounge should be built adjacent to the tracks, with restrooms. People would pay for day passes for that.

chakk said:

Wonder what they plan to do to improve parking around the station, which looks grubby now and can be quite expensive.

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Unfortunately for parking: The City of Sacramento is actually looking at increasing the current $9 a day (or $1.50 for each 45 minutes until $9) rate to $12 a day... And then $15 a day by 2016. You see, the city is in a bit of a crunch when it comes to the budget financed by both parking fees and parking tickets. They recently raised the fine for a parking violation, a "fund" which provided a lot more than what raw meter fees bring in, and as a result more people are actually paying the parking fees like they should in order to avoid getting a ticket. So, in a round-about way, the city is loosing money in their eyes. To make up for it, the parking rates are going to increase. :angry2:

And there will be fewer parking spaces by 2020 than there are now, too. For a few reasons. The area beneath I-5 that is currently used for parking will have a new building constructed. And the proposed Sacramento Street Car line is intended to be routed through what is now the parking area directly in front of the station. The city fully expects car-driving passengers to stop using the lot as it is now, and to share the Old Town garage on the other side of I street.

Nathanael said:

Sigh. I don't like the carving up of the grand restaurant space. But I suppose this is as good as any of the other designs which were proposed, all of which carved it up.
A Metropolitan Lounge here would definitely be a good idea; it is the connection point between the California Zephyr, the Coast Starlight, and the San Joaquins. And it is in fact a terminus for the San Joaquins.

They'll need to improve the pathway to the new tunnel under the new tracks. Does it still go wriggling around to avoid fouling the former platforms? If it ran straight that would help some.

The quarter-mile walk is still an absurdity. Arguably the Metropolitan Lounge should be built adjacent to the tracks, with restrooms. People would pay for day passes for that.

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Sure, I'll agree to having a Metro Lounge next to the tracks as well. Right now, the land between the depot and the platforms is in limbo plan-wise. Thank the Heavens that the idea for stuffing a horrible and overpriced basketball arena there has, for the most part, been completely ditched and abandoned. The "original" plan for this area under the third option Phase II of the station (no moving the depot, no new depot at the platforms) was to construct Transit-Friendly housing and establish a themed Transit District with a small car-free walking "downtown" feel.

As to the path? I need to take another look, but the last time I was at SAC (beginning of February) they were about to open the new "permanent" walkway which leads straight out the back door of the station and to the tunnel.

Restrooms will remain in their current location, but substantially remodeled and improved.

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You surely don't mean the location of: out the back door in trailer boxes....right? :giggle:

The picture you posted is nice, however, it implies they are completely removing the parking lot. If they put that somewhere I missed it. Where's the parking lot?

KrazyKoala said:

Restrooms will remain in their current location, but substantially remodeled and improved.

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You surely don't mean the location of: out the back door in trailer boxes....right? :giggle:

The picture you posted is nice, however, it implies they are completely removing the parking lot. If they put that somewhere I missed it. Where's the parking lot?

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The trailers get kicked to the curb come June, when the station restrooms (which are in the process of remodeling as we type) should be finished and re-opened for public use. Nevermind this is when the station waiting room is to be up-in-arms with its own remodel, but that is another thing.

All said, the depot head house is an active construction site which rests just outside of the passenger's comfort zone. That won't last, and very soon everyone using SAC will feel the presence of contractors and heavy remodeling... Enough that some aspects of the station will be downright hostile. But when it is all finished, I think this building will be ripe to receive its second Renaissance in time for its 100th anniversary in 14 years. :hi:

As for parking? The lot as it stands will remain for the next 5 or so years. Then get noticeably smaller as new building construction takes its Western flank. And then, if the Streetcar project sees the light of day, the two rows in front of the station itself will dwindle and vanish.

And is this night construction? I'm there several times a month, and never see anyone working there. Maybe one or two people coming and going from the bathroom. But now the entire waiting room's roof is blocked. I remember checking out the painting (which is on the wall on the side with the bathrooms) just last week or two ago. Now it's completely blocked off.

EDIT!

After having a nice day off from work, today was spent walking Downtown Sacramento. Of course, this had to include a trip into Sacramento Valley Station with my camera for a few shots of the work going on. So, without further delay:



Here's a real-life as-is photo to match the graphic above.



And here's the proof that construction that was originally slated for June is already started on the main waiting room. For those who have not seen SAC before, the waiting room is over three stories tall, and as you can see here, instead of a vast and airy space it is now (temporarily) claustrophobic. As reference, this is viewing the Amtrak ticket agent windows, and when the renovations are complete there will be doors here leading out to a covered porch and the train and bus platforms .



Another view of the waiting room, this time at the baggage counter (which will also be doors leading out to the porch/platforms when done.) The wall behind the vending machines has three large (and currently boarded-up) openings into the former station lobby, which will be where the Amtrak ticket windows and baggage check-in will be located after remodeling is finished.



And here is a rather hasty shot through some scaffolding of the former lobby behind those vending machines above. I had to take my picture quick and move on, as a construction foreman did not like me snapping photos. As such, is is poor quality, but if you look close you can see the former ladies lounge room at the rear, the one with the window, which will be the future baggage claim area, as well as the former restaurant area to the left which are where the new ticket and baggage counters are being built and the new Amtrak offices are under construction.



And last but not least, a shot through the old loading dock door into the former restaurant kitchen. Where the counter is in this shot is the location of the future Amtrak Police substation, specifically the interrogation room. Not a place I want to have much familiarity with when completed!

Enjoy!

Nice pictures, so if this wasn't suppose to start until June, is it possible that they are just prepping the area early? Like I said in a previous post, I've never seen or heard anyone working on anything there. Did you when you were taking pictures?

KrazyKoala said:

Nice pictures, so if this wasn't suppose to start until June, is it possible that they are just prepping the area early? Like I said in a previous post, I've never seen or heard anyone working on anything there. Did you when you were taking pictures?

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About 20 visible construction workers were actively swinging hammers, moving pieces of construction material, and doing other associated work. They were in front of the building, in the former restaurant and lobby, as well as out back. Probably 10 or so foreman and boss types, and a very large stack of blueprints were spread out across the hood of a pickup at the back entrance to the restaurant kitchen. There was quite a lot of activity, and two trucks were bringing in those large Jeg-lifts as I was leaving. Hardly a construction site ghost town these days.

Awesome, it's about time they start doing something. Can't wait until im back there in a week or so.

Blackwolf said:

As to the path? I need to take another look, but the last time I was at SAC (beginning of February) they were about to open the new "permanent" walkway which leads straight out the back door of the station and to the tunnel.

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Cool.

Time to resurrect the old thread and give a hasty update.

A great deal of work has been completed on the venerable old Southern Pacific Depot since Phase II began this past spring, even if nearly all of it has taken place out of the public view. As the building nears completion of is seismic and structural upgrading to meet modern codes, the work will soon progress into the refurbishment of the interior views. As quoted from a news piece published this evening:

The structural work is scheduled to be completed next month (October 2013) and by early next year (Spring 2014,) the cleaners, painters and chandelier shiners will start moving in.

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This next portion will involve the complete relocation of Amtrak's entire presence inside the building from the current location on the North wall of the waiting room and into the former restaurant space in the Western wing. The current offices will be completely demolished to make way for the restoration of the northern porch leading to trains/buses.

To avoid a second major renovation, much of Amtrak's operations will be contained in a two-story structure inserted in the former restaurant space - a kind of removable building within the building.

"Basically with lightweight framing, we'll be able to pop them out," said Taylor.

Taylor said the renovation is scheduled to be completed by early 2016.

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On Wednesday, Sacramento's Preservation Committee will view updated drawings and schematics of the project. Eventually the city has plans for building a whole brand new Intermodal Transportation Complex that will fully replace the current station in function (hence the "removable building within a building" plan in regard to Amtrak's operation) and leave it as a purely historical property. This would be decades into the future and coincide with the CAHSR project. Until then, passengers will get to experience a newly refurbished depot returned to its original splendor... In about two and a half years.

News article found HERE

And here are those updated schematics and drawings, available in a publicly viewable PDF document:

90% Design Presentation - Sacramento Preservation Commission

Things are finally shaping up!