San Francisco city government will buy massive shopping center to create LGBTQ+ museum

San Francisco city officials are close to ending a two decade-long search for the perfect venue for an LGBTQ+ history museum and archival center. The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the $11.6 million purchase of a massive two-story shopping center in the Castro soon.

The local GLBT Historical Society currently operates a small gallery space in the heart of the Castro while their offices and archives are elsewhere in the city. This would allow the not-for-profit to consolidate into the second story of the Market & Noe Center in 2025.

“Today, San Francisco is yet again making history,” Roberto Ordeñana, executive director of the group, told the Bay Area Reporter. “This investment is more than the purchase of a building; it is about creating a home to share the lessons of LGBTQ and allied history that will be housed inside, led by trailblazers before us, activists who are with us today, and the leaders of the future that will ensure our stories, our struggles, and our hopes for a better tomorrow are forever understood.”

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“The Castro is the heart of LGBTQ culture in this city and this country, and it is the perfect place for a museum that will preserve and celebrate LGBTQ history, culture, and arts for generations to come,” Mayor London Breed added. “Finding this site took years of work and commitment, but we did not waver in finding a home that would honor San Francisco as a place that elevates our LGBTQ community and celebrates those who paved the way for us to have the freedoms we enjoy today.”

Breed allocated $12.5 million in city funds for the museum in her 2021 budget. The purchase price would be under that allocation.

Formerly home to Finnila’s Finnish Baths, the existing 30,000 square foot building with rooftop parking was originally put up for sale in 2021 with an asking price of $17 million. The city must close on the deal by November 30 to get it at the discounted price.

The city had previously attempted to purchase a different vacant building, once home to a Pottery Barn, but failed after the owners refused to lower the price beyond $15 million.

“I think it is great,” gay Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro, said. “We looked at a number of sites. We toured a number of sites. We hoped for a number of sites. Our hopes were raised and dashed at different times along the process that led finally to this one. It works.”

Mandelman will introduce the bill to finalize the sale.

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