How close is Sacramento cherry blossom park to opening? Here’s what tree foundation says

Sacramento’s first cherry blossom park is set to open this summer along the riverfront, organizers confirmed this week.

The Hanami Line project, spearheaded by the Sacramento Tree Foundation, broke ground at Robert T. Matsui Park in June and is intended to honor Japanese American residents of the capital city.

“Based on what we know today, we are shooting (to open) the end of June, the very end of June and potentially early July,” said Laura Garcia, director of development for the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

The opening date is contingent on weather and construction, she said.

“Because of the park sits on an active Sacramento levee, whenever there are weather delays or whenever there’s construction into a levee, we coordinate with the (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers,” Garcia said.

What is Hanami Line?

The Hanami Line project has been in the works for around 10 years and has received support from UC Davis Health System, Caltrans, the city and millions of dollars generated through fundraising, The Sacramento Bee reported in June.

Donors have committed nearly $7.7 million to support the project, Garcia said.

The project is named after the traditional Japanese practice of hanami, or, cherry blossom viewing. The activity, which takes place in the springtime when the fruit trees are in bloom, “draws thousands of families to picnic, play and relax” in local parks, according to the Hanami Line website.

Organizers plan to plant a total of 104 cherry trees at Matsui Park in the first couple weeks of April as part of the Hanami Line project, Garcia said.

According to the project’s development summary, the Sacramento Tree Foundation worked with a nursery in Oregon to pick two tree breeds: Pink Flair and Yoshino.

Those breeds are best suited for Sacramento’s climate and can tolerate higher temperatures, Garcia said.

In addition to trees, visitors to the park can enjoy these features, according to the Sacramento Tree Foundation:

• A walkway will lead visitors from an “iconic lighted sculpture along seigaiha wave-patterned pavers and art-infused inlays,” toward Sacramento’s Japanese sister city, Matsyama;

• Four different bosques, or, mini forests, will offer scattered seating offer space to host events and picnics. The benches were “created from local fallen trees milled by the Tree Foundation’s Urban Wood Rescue program.”

• There will be “Japanese parasol-inspired shade structures.”

Where is Sacramento cherry blossom park?

The Hanami Line project will be located just up the river from the Old Sacramento waterfront at 450 Jibboom St. which overlooks the Sacramento River.

The 1.5-acre park will be visible from Interstate 5 and within walking distance of the Railyards and SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity, according to the project’s website.

What’s the connection to Japantown?

Matsui Park, named after former Sacramento City Councilman and U.S. Representative Bob Matsui, is near Sacramento’s once-bustling Japantown.

The city’s so-called Japanese Quarter, which once rivaled similar enclaves in Los Angeles and San Francisco, was established between Third and Fourth Streets and L and M Streets, the Sacramento Tree Foundation website said.

However, two key factors led to the destruction of downtown’s Japanese neighborhoods and businesses: the imprisonment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II and the redevelopment of the area in the 1950s.

The Hanami Line project seeks to recognize “the lasting contributions the Japanese American community has made to our city,” the site said.

“The Japanese American community has been so resilient and responsive and done so much for the fabric and culture of Sacramento,” Lon Hatamiya, a member of the Hanami committee, said at the groundbreaking ceremony in June. She was the first Asian American to hold a cabinet-level position in state government.

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