the challenge

The Hanami Line and its estimated 150+ Pink Flair Cherry trees will extend north and south from the Robert T. Matsui Park, connecting the park to the Powerhouse Science Center and the city’s dramatic water intake facility on the Sacramento River. This major addition to the Sacramento River waterfront will become an iconic, year-round destination.

Site Selection

The Sacramento Tree Foundation distributed a public call for Hanami Line proposals in late 2013. Nearly two dozen suggestions were submitted; seven submittals met the comprehensive criteria set out in the prospectus. An application review committee was convened, consisting of representatives from the local Japanese American business community, our Sister City Matsuyama, Japan, the Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board, the Sacramento Tree Foundation Board of Directors, as well as a retired Sacramento County Supervisor andthe City of Sacramento’s urban forest manager. The committee unanimously selected the proposal submitted by landscape architects in the Sacramento office of Jacobs, a global architecture and engineering firm. This site was vetted and approved by the Sacramento County Parks Department, Sacramento River Parkway Foundation, River District Business Improvement District and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency.

Site Proposal

The Sacramento Tree Foundation met with several departments in the City of Sacramento, American River Flood Control District, Powerhouse Science Center, regional office of the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Central Valley Flood Control Agency to consider the feasibility of the original Sacramento River design proposal that stretched from Old Sacramento to the confluence of the American River. There was strong consensus among these groups to focus Sakuramento’s Hanami Line on the grounds on the City’s water intake facility, the City’s Robert Matsui Park and the Powerhouse Science Center’s landscape.