Midcentury Modern landmarks are worth saving—so it brings great joy to the entire Atomic Ranch team when we hear of communities rallying in the name of preservation. Today we’re sharing about Sacramento, California’s efforts to provide landmark status to not one, but five locations (including a neighborhood).
From Sactown magazine:
Collaborating with the city on a historic context survey of MCM buildings in the area, Sacramento Modern organized a monumental 18-month undertaking that began in March 2016, inspired by similar audits completed in places like Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco and even Davis. With the help of a team of architectural historians (funded with $40,000 in grant money and proceeds from SacMod’s triennial MCM home tours), plus a small army of volunteers who evaluated promising structures on foot using a smartphone app, an initial wide sweep of 48,000 buildings was whittled down to just five MCM treasures (and hopefully more in the future), selected for closer scrutiny and possible landmark status: Gunther’s ice cream shop, the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse, the Iva Gard Shepard Garden & Arts Center, the Chase Bank of Freeport Boulevard (formerly Senator Savings), and an Eichler tract in South Land Park Hills.
Photo courtesy of Nacht & Lewis
To read the story behind each one of these Midcentury Modern landmarks, head to Sactown magazine.
