Downtown Sacramento, Have You Changed!

For once, I'm not talking about movies, especially Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Last week, I took a cheap bus ride from Reno to Sacramento. It's been two years since I lived in Sacramento, since I was forced to move because my landlord evicted me to get higher rents, and that no one would hire me for anything, aside from radio, because I was too old. I did find something else. though.

To be honest, I wish I was still living in Sacramento because I could be part of the opening of the Golden 1 Center, the new home of the Sacramento Kings and eventual site of everything for the next two years. It's still not done, although it will be when Paul McCartney is in town early next month. This is the closest I could get to the new arena.

When I moved out, that was the site of a half-filled shopping center that lost a lot of stores to a new mall in Roseville. It's going to be much more popular now.

I was really interested in seeing this corner...

This was once the site of a Hard Rock Cafe. It looks like a deserted clothing store. It will soon be a new restaurant, but construction is interefering with the 24 Hour Fitness place next door.

In fact, there's still a lot of construction in the former shopping center, which still has some pieces of its past, like this....

..and the saddest thing for movie fans, an empty marquee...

Half the mall has been knocked down, including this, Starbucks and the downtown post office (which was moved a couple of blocks away but you had to tell the security guard on duty you're there to mail something). However, the Cinemark site is reassuring people the multiplex will be new and improved when it reopens. It's supposed to be ready by the fall, but December looks more likely.

In the meantime, the Crest is picking up the slack for movie fans, while also being a live music venue,,,

Despite the activity, Macy's is still open, but it has an interesting entrance..

There's literally a tunnel from here to the store to keep people away from the renovations. It's safe to say the situation is causing a dent on the business at Old Town, since people walked through the mall to get there. After October, and more likely by December, things should be back to normal.

The new construction is also affecting K Street, which had been the site of abandoned buildings. Now with the new arena, there's plans to build new hotels and condos. I just hope this will be preserved somehow. It's at 8th and K, the site of a former shoe store...

What was a local brewpub, meanwhile, will take on a new identity...

I was tempted to head to the apartment complex where I used to live, but I didn't. I did find out the bakery a few blocks away was closed by the city. I'd rather not say why.

I'll probably return to Sacramento after the New Year, depending on the weather. I would really like to come up and touch what some will say is the most advanced arena ever...until the next Olympics or so. What I really wish, though, is that I can somehow afford to live in Sacramento again.

Killing the Keg

When customers at the Pyramid Alehouse on K Street in downtown Sacramento left, they were looking forward to coming back for March Madness, the next Sacramento Kings game, and even baseball.

However, when some of them returned, they found this...



It was a sudden announcement that the alehouse was closed for good. No "one more for the road" night, as Brew It Up did several months ago, and the Hard Rock Café before that. It was a sudden goodbye. I can imagine the staff going to sleep employed, then waking up without a job. That happens a lot these days.

The news was first announced on Facebook, ironically the day after Beer Week. They were even featuring some of their beers at a BevMo in Citrus Heights a few days before. It looks like the main office in Seattle decided to make this move at the last second. Still, even the bar should have gotten two weeks notice.

So...why? That's what a lot of people are wondering, including this woman who was interested in spending lunch....



I know one person who posted on Facebook claimed it was due to "street urchins" bothering people. It could also be competition. When it first opened, it was the top choice for having a bite to eat downtown. Now, there's Dive Bar, Pizza Rock, K Bar, and a few others close by. KCRA says the closure was due to economic reasons, and that may be due to competition.

It's really a shame. I did go there a couple of times to try their beer. I prefer buying beer and having it at home, but the experienced of enjoying a pint at a brewpub is special.

I even went there on a Sunday, when people got a chance to "kill the keg", or empty out a keg of beer, for prizes. In fact, much of the decorations at the alehouse were still there:



They'll be a lot of people hoping to wet their whistle at the Pyramid Alehouse for sometime to come, and all they'll find is this:



The worst thing is that it will take weeks to remove the exterior. Hard Rock Café and Brew It Up took a long time to remove their decorations, and it took quite a while to remove "Power Balance" from outside the now-Sleep Train Arena.

There's already reports that someone will take over the alehouse. If so, maybe the former employees should be among the first to get a job there.