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But the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s soon would diminish SOMA's leather scene. The plaques would be part of that, but it is not entirely clear where we would fall in the project timeline."įolsom Street at one point was known as the city's "Miracle Mile" due to the many gay bars and bathhouses that operated on or near it in the 1960s and 1970s. "My understanding is they are going to start groundbreaking in the fall, so maybe October or November. They are finalizing the drawings and the plans at the moment," said Goldfarb. "I have been in discussion with DPW about the Folsom Street project for approximately two and half years. Its timeline for completion was delayed due to the COVID pandemic.
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The leather district has been in close talks with the city's Public Works Department and the office of District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, who represents SOMA, about incorporating some of the plaques into Folsom Street's sidewalks as part of the pedestrian safety improvements for one of the main corridors through the area. The approval processes will take anywhere from nine to 18 months, said Goldfarb. "Each one of these steps will determine whether it goes ahead and whether we can get the money or not," Robert Goldfarb, chair of the leather district's board, told the B.A.R. The city's planning commission recently approved the project to be built at Folsom and 11th streets adjacent to the gay nightclub Oasis. The district will also be seeking an estimated $120,000 to pay for the plaques from the community impact fees the developer 元7 Partners will be required to pay for its 244-rental unit housing development in SOMA. Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman asked to be added as a co-sponsor. Leather district leaders plan to file by Friday, April 9, to have the city's arts commission review the designs for the plaques now that the supervisors voted 11-0 at their April 6 meeting to back the project. The weekly LGBTQ newspaper, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, called the location home from December 1988 until October 2013. One would also be located at the former home of the B.A.R at 395 Ninth Street. Plaques would also be installed in front of existing businesses such as the SF Eagle, which now fronts the new Eagle Plaza public parklet honoring the leather community built out of a portion of 12th Street at Harrison, and The End Up nightclub at the corner of Sixth and Harrison streets. Such storied establishments as the Folsom Street Barracks, The Arena, Ramrod, The Brig, and the Club Baths of San Francisco would be memorialized with historical markers. The resolution in support was taken up on an expedited process this week due to pending deadlines and a streetscape improvement project underway that could incorporate the installation of the plaques.Īs the Bay Area Reporter first reported in September, the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District has proposed recognizing current and former businesses in the area by placing bronze plaques in the sidewalk near where they operated or currently are located. Steel Supply building located south on Folsom Street from 15th Street - 1987 U.S.A plan to commemorate 50 locations tied to San Francisco's leather and LGBTQ culture with sidewalk markers has been endorsed by the Board of Supervisors and will file for civic design review this week. Clothes on line and the backs of buildings on Folsom Street and 15th Street - 1987 Two Romeo flats at 1916-1918, 1910-1914 Folsom Street, near 15th Street - 1976 West at the north side of 15th Street from Folsom Street to Shotwell Street - 1985 1471 15th Street - 1984 Detail of the building west of 1471 15th Street - 1984 U.S. Former site of Folsom Prison gay bar at the northwest corner of 15th Street and Folsom Street.