San Francisco supervisors have approved the disbursement of bond money to relocate the city’s public health clinic that treats sexually acquired infections out of its current dilapidated site. The Board of Supervisors also signed off on a portion of the bond money allocated for a redo of Harvey Milk Plaza in the LGBTQ Castro district.
The funds for the two projects were included in a $390 million bond measure for various infrastructure, public spaces, and street safety projects that city voters passed last November. As the Bay Area Reporter reported last year, the inclusion of both came after public pressure from LGBTQ advocates alarmed that the bond proposal initially had included the Milk plaza renovation but omitted City Clinic’s relocation.
The facility operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health has been housed since 1982 in a 91-year-old former firehouse building in the South of Market neighborhood. But the property at 356 Seventh Street isn’t compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as staff had noted to the B.A.R., plus its heating system has failed and a flood forced the clinic to close for two days.
"As much as we love our old firehouse, it's showing its age," Dr. Oliver Bacon, a gay man who is the clinic’s medical director, told the B.A.R. last year.
At their June 3 meeting the 11 supervisors unanimously voted to approve $27,767,353 in bond funding for moving City Clinic. The project has a total estimated cost of $28 million but no timeline at the moment for completing the transition to a new address.
“Funds will be used to purchase and modify a site for City Clinic’s use, providing a larger lab space, greater privacy in patient care areas, and improved accessibility. A new site is not yet identified. Timeline undetermined until a site is identified,” stated the materials shared with the supervisors.
In response to the B.A.R.’s request this week to speak with City Clinic leadership about their plans for the relocation, an unnamed spokesperson for the health department replied in an email that “unfortunately, we do not have a subject matter expert available for this so we will need to kindly decline this interview request.”
In a statement attributed to the health department, the city agency reiterated that it has yet to decide on a new site at which to house City Clinic.
According to the statement, SFDPH “has engaged City Clinic staff and stakeholders to define the needs and program space requirements for a fully functional and accessible City Clinic, including space needed for a safe and effective lab, accessible and private patients care and consultation areas, and administrative space that allows staff to properly collaborate on patient needs. The department is working to find a suitable site that meets the needs of the clinic.”
2026 start date eyed for Milk plaza
As for Milk plaza, a community-led drive to completely renovate the public parklet above the Castro Muni Station was launched in 2016 in conjunction with the city’s plan to install a second elevator for the subway station. That project is currently under construction, with the metal support beams for the lift visible above the protective fencing surrounding the site, and set for completion by early next year.
The larger renovation plans for the plaza named after the city’s first gay supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978 just shy of his 12-month mark in office, are not fully funded despite the bond allocating $25 million toward the price tag. Current estimates for all the improvements the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza group want to see be built peg the cost at nearly $40 million.
As the B.A.R. reported in December, the friends group committed to raise nearly $8 million of the remaining funds needed, working then off a total project cost of $35 million with the expectation the city could make up the difference. So far the friends group has yet to report any significant fundraising for the project, and it does not appear Mayor Daniel Lurie included any general revenue appropriation for the plaza in his proposed budget released last week.
When asked if he had, a mayoral spokesperson responded with reference to the bond funds and said nothing about any additional city dollars for the plaza project. The partial disbursement of $894,856 from the bond money approved by the supervisors Tuesday will go toward having global landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm SWA complete the drawings for the project so ground could potentially be broken next year.
In May, the city’s Capital Planning Committee noted it had amended the bond issuance amount for the project “as questions remain on the project scope, budget, and ability to raise private funds. The updated allocation will ensure that planning and design on Harvey Milk Plaza can continue and later project phases will be included in a future issuance.”
The approved plans for the plaza call for a new spiral podium feature built by the intersection of Castro and Market streets in a nod to its history as a gathering place for protests and rallies. A smaller stairway leading to the underground subway station would be constructed, replacing the wider one there today that undulates downward across most of the space.
Drawings show a rose-colored, transparent overhang above the new stairs and station escalator to protect them from rainwater. The color scheme harkens to the red-and-white bullhorn Milk used during protests held at the site and marches that kicked off from it.
Friends group executive director Brian Springfield, a gay man and professional graphic designer, said this week that it has been in talks with San Francisco Public Works about what could be built sticking to a total price tag of $25 million as covered by the bond. The city agency is working with the friends and other city officials on the plaza project.
“What does that project look like? Is it something everyone can be happy with? It could potentially require … descoping is the word they use, which is where the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza spring into action,” said Springfield. “Our role in this process and with the city is to protect the community’s vision for Harvey Milk Plaza.”
Part of that vision calls for a new enclosed space below street level for museum-quality displays about Milk and other local LGBTQ leaders. The friends group is speaking with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency about incorporating the subway station’s entire concourse for the installation.
In April, the friends debuted in front of the subway fare gates an installation featuring eight lesbians and queer women of note. It is part of its pledge dubbed “Widening History’s Lens: Toward Inclusivity & Belonging in the Castro” to tell the story of the entire LGBTQ community, not just Milk’s, as part of the reimagining for the space.
“I would share that I remain optimistic we will see a groundbreaking sometime next year,” said Springfield, meaning the redesigned plaza could debut to the public in 2028. “I am encouraged to hear the city is working with those dates. We have waited long enough.”
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on a new survey about LGBTQ Americans 10 years after seeing same-sex marriage become a federal right.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social .
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected].
