A project to install sidewalk markers recognizing current and former LGBTQ businesses in San Francisco s South of Market neighborhood has won the approval of the city s arts commission. Meanwhile, more of the leather-themed Eagle Plaza public parklet on 12th Street has been revealed.
As the Bay Area Reporter first reported in September, the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District aims to place bronze plaques in the sidewalk near where various LGBTQ bars, shops, and bathhouses operated or currently are located in SOMA. At one time there were more than 120 such establishments, but today the number is down to 12.
The arts commissioners approved the design of the historical markers without comment on 13-0 vote, with one member absent, at their May 3 meeting. The unanimous backing had been expected, as the commissioners who serve on the civic design review committee had unanimously supported the sidewalk plaques when they met last month.
Several projects celebrating the leather and kink history of San Francisco s South of Market neighborhood are inching along, from the completion of a public parklet named after an iconic bar to the installation of sidewalk markers recognizing current and former LGBTQ businesses in the area.
A new crosswalk sporting the blue, white, and black colors of the leather flag now marks the start of the Eagle Plaza public parklet on 12th Street at Bernice. The $1.85 million project, begun in 2019, is turning a portion of the roadway into a community gathering space. Nearly complete, it is named after the gay-owned Eagle bar that sits on the corner of 12th and Harrison streets at the other terminus of the parklet.
San Francisco OKs Leather and LGBTQ+ Cultural Landmark Project
The city moves forward with plans to commemorate famed hot spots of queer and leather culture with bronze sidewalk plaques. April 08 2021 2:23 PM EDT
Earlier this week, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 to endorse a plan to commemorate over 50 locations that reflect local LGBTQ+ and leather culture. The project was expedited in order to coincide with a streetscape improvement project that would enable the plaques to be installed at the same time, according to a report in the
Bay Area Reporter. Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman requested to be added as a cosponsor.
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. 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.
As 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. 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.
A plan to commemorate 50 locations tied to San Francisco s leather and LGBTQ culture with sidewalk markers is expected to win approval from the Board of Supervisors this week. It is timed to coincide with an underway streetscape improvement project along Folsom Street that at one point was known as the city s Miracle Mile.
It earned that nickname due to the many gay bars and bathhouses that operated on or near the main artery through the South of Market district in the 1960s and 1970s. But the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s soon would diminish SOMA s leather scene. The health crisis resulted in most gay bathhouses and sex clubs in the area closing their doors.