‘Dream with us’: Group restoring 100-year-old North Sacramento School wants community hub

By Michelle Bandur

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — There’s a push to give North Sacramento’s only official historic landmark new life.

In February, the city of Sacramento gave the North Sacramento school that designation, which cleared the financial way to get plans moving to turn the run-down building into a community hub.

Old North Sacramento Community Association partnered with the Sacramento Community Land Trust and creative development partners to purchase and rehab the dilapidated building and turn it into what they call a “vibrant community space.”

Tamika L’Ecluse, the executive director of the SacCLT said they are still in the exploration phase with the community group.

“We have not purchased to school, but are working to support the community’s ownership and stewardship of the site and it’s facilities,” she said.

The association has been surveying neighbors in North Sacramento on their needs and what they would like to see in the space.

Now, they want all of Sacramento to invest in the project.

“You can feel the history. You can feel the intent, and that’s what I love about this building,” said Ronnie Shaw. “There was good intentions here and we want to spread that.”

Shaw is the president of the Old North Sacramento Community Association and a chair of the school restoration committee.

He said that now that the school is on the federal, state, and city registers of historic places, developers can get financial incentives and tax credits.

They’ve surveyed the neighborhood about what residents want to see in the century-old building.

Mina Perez with the North Sacramento Chamber said there are all kinds of possibilities with the building.

Perez said besides showcasing art, there could be a museum showcasing North Sacramento’s 100-year history.

She said it’s time to turn the blight into a bright spot.

“We’ve been asleep for quite a while, and it’s time to wake up and put our heads up and let’s move forward,” Perez said.

The restoration committee is getting its inspiration from Curtiss Park, where the community worked to turn the Sierra 2 school into a community hub.

“I want the whole city to wrap their arms around the project,” Shaw said. “This is for the North Sacramento community, but really, the programs we are going to have here, it’s open to everyone,” Shaw said. “Dream with us.”

Twin Rivers Unified School District owns the property and said it is looking into the best use for the property.

Shaw said they are collecting letters and messages from the community and will give them to the Twin Rivers school board at its next meeting this month.

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