Eight years ago, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center opened amid much hoopla on a bright sunny March day, as crowds spilled out onto Market Street. The center was touted as a centralized location where nonprofits could house their administrative offices and community groups could rent meeting rooms. Two larger spaces, the Rainbow Room on the second floor and the Ceremonial Room on the fourth floor, would provide revenue as venues for receptions, parties, and performances.
It didn't exactly turn out that way.
By June 2003, the center was on its second executive director, the first having unceremoniously resigned following reports that the center had incurred a $642,000 deficit in a manner of months. The center's fundraising pipeline dried up right after the doors opened, which was to be expected since people had been donating money for years to the capital campaign to construct the building and they were led to believe they were done once it opened for business.
It quickly became apparent, however, that the center had an unworkable business plan. Revenue from room rentals was never going to sustain the center's operating costs, and there wasn't enough money coming in from other sources. On top of that, many of the rooms proved to be too small to hold meetings, much less house a nonprofit agency. Even the center's own offices are spread out in multiple rooms in the Victorian portion of the building.
Consider the current economic climate, and it's understandable why the center is seeking to restructure its $3.15 million debt from construction costs, hopefully with an assist from the city in the form of a $157,000 loan (to be retained by the lender, First Republic Bank).
Center officials believed that they had to find a more permanent financial solution, and so the news last week that the center is in talks to open a restaurant and bar on the fourth floor, with its very attractive rooftop patio, is a step in the right direction. While it's too soon to say this plan will come to fruition as it pertains to the ongoing negotiations with Medjool owner Gus Murad, such a proposal could generate much-needed revenue for the center as well as open the building up to many more people.
To be clear, this rooftop restaurant won't be happening overnight. For starters, zoning issues need to be addressed. While there are parts of the building zoned for commercial use, the fourth floor isn't among them. Permits must be secured, and some significant changes must be made to the interior configuration in order to accommodate a restaurant and full service bar. But it appears possible and the rooftop, with its fabulous views, is a great asset. Board members and staff need to start meeting with neighbors and community groups now to win their support.
The plan calls for transforming the fourth floor, including the Ceremonial Room, into a restaurant. Executive Director Rebecca Rolfe told us last week during a tour of the building that there's a possibility that another large space could be located elsewhere in the center once the interior layout is redesigned, but a big part of the Ceremonial Room's appeal is the adjoining rooftop patio and windows, precisely making it an attractive setting for a restaurant.
Rolfe also told us that changes are likely in store for the more dreary Rainbow Room that could include installing windows in the wall facing Market Street. The hallway that is between the room and the center's existing exterior windows is a required fire exit, but putting some windows in the Rainbow Room itself would be a huge improvement. Rolfe said the room is woefully under-utilized, probably because of its odd shape. In a sign that the LGBT center was truly "designed by committee," the lighting system in that room is state of the art (so much so that all the lights can't even be used because of the tremendous heat generated, Rolfe said) while the sound system is atrocious. Too bad.
Part of the center's new plan involves utilizing people to work in the restaurant from its successful economic development and job training programs. In the aftermath of the center's financial problems several years ago, these job-related and economic programs helped to keep the center afloat and provided critical resources to LGBT people looking for work or starting their own business. In particular the center's Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative, a collaboration with the Transgender Law Center, Jewish Vocational Services, and SF TEAM, a transgender advocacy group, has been a success. The center has hosted numerous job fairs, which have attracted top-level employers.
An important supporter of the center's plan is Supervisor Bevan Dufty. The way he sees it, the center can be transformed into a more fully functioning building that caters to the community's diverse needs.
As it stands now, the center could be hosting numerous events and one would never know it because the lobby and rest of the first floor space are often empty and silent. Rolfe – as well as her predecessor Thom Lynch – has worked to make the lobby more welcoming, but there still really isn't a reason to hang out there. Since the closure of the popular 3 Dollar Bill Cafe last year – a mistake in our opinion – the first floor has become even less inviting. But Rolfe has some ideas for improvement, including relocating part of the cyber center to the first floor, and there is discussion to once again put a cafe there too.
The physical building itself is now eight years old and starting to show its limitations. This opportunity to re-imagine the center is one that should not be lost. If successful, it could usher in a whole new clientele – LGBTs, neighbors from the condos that are going up next door, and people looking for a hip new dining spot.