SAN FRANCISCO (CelebrityAccess) — The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus announced that after 40 years, the organization will have its first permanent home with the launch of the National LGBTQ Center for the Arts.
Located at 170 Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, the center will provide a performance space for the chorus, as well as a media center, a creative space for LGBTQ artists, and will serve as a meeting location for community leaders, host training and internship programs and more.
The interior of the building has more than 23,000 square feet, including a spacious lobby, auditorium, stage, dressing rooms, office space, multiple conference rooms, kitchens, and storage.
The art-deco building was designed by architect Harold Stoner and completed in 1930 for the Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal organization but in more recent years, the property as served as a focal point for adherents of the Bahá’í faith.
The chorus purchased a four-story building to house the center for $9.6 million, through funds raised through a campaign and via a substantial contribution from founding Chorus members Terrence Chan, who made a gift of $5 million toward the cost of buying and renovating the space and the SFGMC Board, which pledged an additional $1 million.
“I am particularly excited about the vision for a National LGBTQ Center for the Arts. At this time in our nation’s history, it is vital that we in the LGBTQ community have a home for our art and artists. I am confident that great work will be created in our new home – work that will inspire, engage and educate,” Chan said.
