Courtesy of Joie de Vivre Hotels.

Mark your calendars! Heritage will host its 2013 Annual Membership Meeting at the Phoenix Hotel (601 Eddy Street) on Saturday, June 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Executive director Mike Buhler will update members on Heritage’s advocacy and programming activities since the January meeting, including the launch of “Legacy Bars & Restaurants.” A special guest speaker will be announced later this month.

The meeting will take place at the Phoenix Hotel, an irreverent, mid-century motor lodge in the heart of the Tenderloin. Located within walking distance to some of San Francisco’s most celebrated clubs and performance halls, including the Great American Music Hall, the Warfield, and the Orpheum Theater, the hotel has been the crash pad  for such musicians as Joan Jett, the Psychedelic Furs, and Pearl Jam during its storied operation. Its distinctive outdoor pool features a custom mural by Francis Forlenza entitled “My Fifteen Minutes.” You never know who you might see tuning a guitar or hanging out by the pool!

The event is free to Heritage members and includes a continental breakfast. For more information about the meeting, please contact Carolyn Squeri, director of membership and development, at csqueri@sfheritage.org or 415-441-3000 x14.

Photo by Mike Rohde on Flickr.

Heritage is pleased to announce the Community Summit: “Sustaining San Francisco’s Living History” on Saturday, June 15.  

In a city undergoing tremendous cultural, social, and demographic changes, increasing rents and property values are pushing many long-time residents and businesses out of the city. While various communities throughout San Francisco are working to reverse this trend, significant progress cannot be made without a coordinated and concerted effort.

“Sustaining San Francisco’s Living History” will convene community, business, and civic leaders for a discussion about what can be done to prevent the loss of heritage businesses and community institutions that help define San Francisco’s unique cultural identity.

The Summit will take place on June 15 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Doors will open for registration at 9:30 a.m. The event is free to the public, with a $15 suggested donation to cover the cost of lunch.

Keynote presenter Darlene Rios Drapkin of Urban Transformation will discuss lessons from the Main Street program in the Bay Area during the lunch hour. Other speakers include representatives from the Chinatown Community Development Center, Filipino American Development Foundation, Japantown Organizing Committee, Lower 24^th Streets Merchants Association, Marcus Books, San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development’s “Invest in Neighborhoods” initiative, San Francisco Planning Department, and the Small Business Commission. Ethno musician Danongan Kalanduyan will deliver a special Filipino Kulintang performance and Gloria Toolsie, one of the original founders of San Francisco’s annual Carnaval festival, will demonstrate homemade Trinidadian Carnival costumes and the traditional delicacies of Caribbean foodways.

Additional details, including a complete list of speakers and event partners, are available here. Seating is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible. For more information, please contact Desiree Smith or Laura Dominguez.

Gene Compton’s Cafeteria at 101 Taylor Street, the site of the first recorded transgender riot in U.S. history. Photo: San Francisco History Center, SFPL.

Join Heritage for “Tenderloin Living, 1907 – Today,” a special walking tour of the Tenderloin on Saturday, June 8^th that explores the history of one of San Francisco’s most complex neighborhoods.

Historians and community advocates Felicia Elizondo, Donna Graves, Katherine Petrin, and Shayne Watson will uncover the living heritage of the Tenderloin through the places that reveal its layered past, including the history of the LGBT community, affordable housing, and Southeast Asian immigration. Special guest Philip Nguyen of the Southeast Asian Community Center will also present a brief history on the creation of Little Saigon.

The tour will set the stage for Heritage’s upcoming “Community Summit: Sustaining San Francisco’s Living History,” scheduled for the following weekend on Saturday, June 15^th.  The goal of the walking tour and the summit is to discuss strategies for preventing the loss of heritage businesses and community institutions that contribute to San Francisco’s unique cultural identity.

Photo by Heritage staff.

Please join us June 8^th as we discover previously untold stories and learn more about the evolution of the Tenderloin’s social and cultural identity. Some of the sites that we’ll visit include: Glide Memorial Church, Compton’s Cafeteria, El Rosa Hotel, Aunt Charlie’s, Southeast Asian Community Center, Kelly Cullen Community, and the Cadillac Hotel.

The tour will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Registration is limited to 20 people. Join us for an optional lunch at 1:00 at Bang San Thai Cuisine, located at 791 O’Farrell Street. Lunch tickets are $22 and include food, beverage, and a $2 processing fee.

Photo by davitydave on Flickr.

Your voice is needed to support designation of the Duboce Park Landmark District! Please join Heritage next Monday, May 13th at 1:30 p.m. in City Hall Room 263 as we urge the Land Use and Economic Development Committee to recommend designation of the proposed district. Boasting one of the most intact collections of “Painted Ladies” in the city, the four blocks that comprise Duboce Park are undeniably special and worthy of protection. It’s our responsibility to make sure the Board of Supervisors know that San Francisco supports the proposed landmark district.

The Duboce Park Landmark District was identified as eligible for listing in the National Register in 2008 and was added to the Planning Department’s Landmark Designation Work Program in June 2011. Since then, an unprecedented community outreach effort led by the City has informed the nomination process. After a lengthy, collaborative public process, the proposed historic district is a model of community engagement, responsiveness, and compromise.

In addition, Supervisor Wiener worked with Heritage and the Planning Department to craft legislation to ease access to property tax benefits under the City’s Mills Act program for historic homeowners in Duboce Park and throughout the city. Owners of contributing buildings within the proposed district qualify for a property tax reduction of up to 50 percent to offset the costs of maintaining and improving their historic home.

The agenda for the meeting is available here. You can also read Heritage’s letter of support for the proposed district.

]]> http://www.sfheritage.org/news/dubocepark/feed/ 0 http://www.sfheritage.org/news/mai-tais-with-heritageyp-at-the-empress-of-china/ http://www.sfheritage.org/news/mai-tais-with-heritageyp-at-the-empress-of-china/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 01:47:43 +0000 Laura http://www.sfheritage.org/?p=5687

Photo by Heritage staff.

Join HeritageYP for breathtaking views of San Francisco from the lounge at the Empress of China! On Wednesday, June 5 at 6 p.m., HeritageYP will host an early summer happy hour in partnership with the APA Young Planners Group. All are invited to attend an evening of lively conversation and networking at one of Chinatown’s most storied establishments.

Since 1965, the Empress of China has been the only high-rise Chinese roof garden restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Included in Heritage’s master list of Legacy Bars & Restaurants, the Empress is known for its stunning views of surrounding landmarks, including Nob Hill and Coit Tower. Under a canopy inspired by designs from the Han dynasty, the cocktail lounge serves up its signature Mai Tais daily.

Photo by David Wakely.

On Saturday, May 11, Soirée 2013 will celebrate the restoration of the Aquatic Bathhouse Building, now home to the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Inspired by the era of 1940s glamour, this black-tie event will feature fine dining, dancing, casino gaming, silent auction, and magic!

Photo by David Wakely.

Built in 1939 as a joint project of the City of San Francisco and the New Deal Works Progress Administration, the sleek Streamline Moderne Bathhouse Building is the jewel of the Aquatic Park National Historic Landmark District, with clean lines reminiscent of a classic ocean liner.

Befitting its waterfront location, the interior is adorned with an Atlantis-inspired mural depicting a dreamy and strange underwater world.

Attendees can bid on an array of one-of-a-kind prizes in the silent auction, including original stamped zinc frieze panels from the Hallidie Building and a behind-the-scenes culinary tour with Avital Unger of Avital Tours.

Vote for these businesses and more on Facebook and Twitter! Photos by Heritage staff.

Heritage is thrilled to announce the first public call for submissions for the second round of “Legacy Bars & Restaurants” through an interactive nomination process via social media. The Legacy project, which first debuted in January, is an innovative online education, advocacy, and preservation initiative that seeks to celebrate and support San Francisco’s most legendary eateries, watering holes, dives, and haunts with unique cultural significance to the city.

From April 1 through May 6, we invite San Franciscans to vote for their picks for the next round of 25 selections for “Legacy Bars & Restaurants” from a list of over 100 businesses that meet the project criteria. In order to be eligible for selection, businesses must have achieved sustained operation of forty years or more, feature distinctive architecture or interior design, and contribute to the cultural heritage of the surrounding neighborhood or the city. Members of the public will also be able to nominate qualifying businesses that do not appear on Heritage’s list.

Vote for your favorite Legacy businesses by posting on our Facebook wall or on Twitter using the hash tag #SFLegacyProject. The top five most-voted bars or restaurants will receive guaranteed selection as part of the next round of Legacy establishments announced in June.

A press release is available here.

To see the Legacy project in the news, visit: “San Francisco Legacy Bars: A Toast” (Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, April 1).

To the astonishment of generations of patrons, San Francisco’s Palace Hotel announced on March 22 that it had removed the iconic Maxfield Parrish painting from the Pied Piper Bar and Grill in anticipation of its planned sale at auction this spring. Positioned prominently above the oak bar, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” has been the centerpiece of the establishment since the Palace reopened in 1909 after the city’s great earthquake and fire. A statement released by the Palace states: “it is no longer practical for the hotel to display an original work of this value and cultural significance in a public area.”  The owners originally engaged Christie’s in New York City to oversee the sale during its spring auction in Important American Paintings on May 23.

The removal and planned sale of “The Pied Piper” represents a tremendous loss to the cultural fabric of San Francisco. As an affirmation of the enduring significance of both the bar and the painting in the city’s history, Heritage included the Pied Piper Bar and Grill in the first round of businesses selected for promotion in our “Legacy Bars and Restaurants” initiative in January.

The painting — one of only two Maxfield Parrish barroom pieces and the only one in its original location until Friday — dates from the “Golden Age of American Illustration.” Parrish and his contemporaries, including Dean Cornwell and Norman Rockwell, produced numerous examples of fine art intended to enliven drinking establishments throughout the country.

Heritage is deeply saddened by the sudden removal of this cultural treasure. We appeal to the hotel’s ownership to work with the preservation community to explore alternatives that would enable the painting to return home and be permanently protected in place.

Update: In response to intense public outcry, the Palace Hotel has withdrawn its intent to sell “The Pied Piper” at auction. The painting will undergo a museum-quality restoration in New York and will return to the hotel, though the owners indicated that it may not be re-hung in its original place. Heritage will continue its appeal to restore the painting to its original location above the bar at the Pied Piper.

Please click here to sign our online petition to ensure the preservation of “The Pied Piper” in its original location!

“Palace Hotel Removes ‘Cultural Treasure’” (Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, March 22)
“Palace Hotel Evicts Famous Painting” (Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, March 23)
“San Francisco’s Palace Hotel To Auction Off Legendary Painting” (Audio version available here, KCBS News, March 23)
“Beloved Pied Piper Painting Is Returning To The Palace Hotel” (San Francisco Chronicle, March 25)

Photo by Anthea Hartig

Photo by Ian Boyle

Heritage is pleased to partner once more with Google on a special offer for tours of the Haas-Lilienthal House. Two people can now explore our 1886 Queen Anne treasure for $8 (a $16 value). Simply save the voucher to your mobile phone and redeem upon arrival.

If you’re already a Heritage member and enjoy free tours, consider sharing the Google Offer with a friend so they, too, can visit the only Victorian interior open to the public in San Francisco!

With new rounds of our groundbreaking “Legacy Bars & Restaurants” initiative on the horizon and the kick-off to our programming season in June, there’s really no better time to join. Members receive a discount on all programs and special events, including our five-month lecture series, which commences in July. All events will be held in historic venues to be named. With a Heritage membership, you gain access to San Francisco’s iconic and little-known historic treasures.

Members also receive free Haas-Lilienthal House and Pacific Heights tours and the Heritage News print newsletter.