A $2 million alleyway installation honoring San Francisco's leather community has received preliminary approval weeks ahead of its planned dedication ceremony.
The project encompasses Ringold Alley between Eighth and Ninth streets. The South of Market roadway was the site of the inaugural Up Your Alley Fair in 1985.
It now includes bronze bootprints dedicated to deceased local leather figures, stone plinths bearing the names of leather businesses, and bulb-outs emblazoned with the colors of the leather flag. It is the first part of what is envisioned to be an LGBTQ cultural heritage district in a portion of western SOMA.
Last week the city's public works department director signed off on the major encroachment permit for the project and recommended the Board of Supervisors formally approve it. The agency is finalizing a maintenance agreement for the art pieces with Folsom Street Events, the nonprofit that produces several fetish fairs held in the area.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the leather walk, as well as the L Seven mixed-use development built by developer 4Terra Investments, which paid for the Ringold project, is tentatively scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 25 just days head of this year's Up Your Alley Fair Sunday, July 30.