In what locals are taking as a hopeful sign — quite literally — the historic neon marquee at the Clay Theater is lighted once again. It has been dark and broken for months, a tangible nightly reminder of the theater’s uncertain future. Now that the lights are back on — and Catherine Deneuve is back on the screen — hope springs eternal.
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Photograph of Browser Books by Kathi O’Leary
BOOKS | KEN SAMUELS
A customer walks into Browser Books on Fillmore and approaches the counter with a sly smile on his face. “Hey,” he says, “are you guys happy that Borders is closing in Union Square?”
“I’m not happy for the people who lost their jobs,” I reply, “but it doesn’t surprise me.”
I tell him I’ve been following the stories of Borders’ financial troubles in the newspapers and in Publishers Weekly. Borders was hit hard by the rise of online bookselling and was slow to respond to the challenge. In addition, a megastore in a megaspace like Union Square has a huge overhead that must be crippling in these tough times.
“I understand that,” he says, “but does it help you?”
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Naturally they’ll have a green living roof on the new eco-conscious assembly building now nearing completion behind Drew School at California and Broderick Streets. But they’ll also have a vertical garden created by Parisian botanist-artist Patrick Blanc — a rock star among gardeners credited with inventing the concept and planting gardens on walls around the world.
Blanc was in the neighborhood recently to unveil Drew’s new vertical garden, which consists of thousands of plants that are all native California species. First the dirt was removed from the roots of the plants, then they were stapled to a three-story felt wall that is automatically watered several times daily. The 1,720 sq. ft. garden — Blanc’s largest in the U.S. — faces Broderick Street and is visible from the sidewalk.
“What was very interesting for me,” Blanc said, “it was a school much involved in artistic work. For me, it was important to have receptive students for a new kind of work with plants.”
Blanc spoke to students about the project and also lectured to a sold-out crowd at the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, which has its own living roof. The firm that completed the academy’s roof is also creating a 2,630 sq. ft. green roof on the school’s new building.
Read more: “The Dirt”
The vertical garden (left) is on a new wing that replaces a three-story Victorian.
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FOR MONTHS the temple on California Street that is home to Congregation Sherith Israel has been shrouded in scaffolding as the historic building undergoes a seismic retrofit. This week much of the scaffolding came down and the stained glass windows were re-installed — and the temple was no longer pink.
EARLIER: At long last, temple retrofit begins
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The Osada Apartments at Fillmore and Pine were built in 1928.
ARCHITECTURE | Jacquie Proctor
Soft-spoken British architect Harold G. Stoner quietly left his distinctive artistic mark on San Francisco, and one of his most important buildings stands proudly at the corner of Fillmore and Pine Streets.
The Osada Apartments — including 15 residential units and two storefronts now home to Paolo Shoes and The Grove cafe — were designed and built by Stoner in 1928.
Most of Stoner’s work was residential. He designed numerous picturesque storybook style homes in the city’s western neighborhoods. Stoner also designed a medieval mountaintop mansion for Adolph G. Sutro and the entry to the ice rink at the Sutro Baths near the Cliff House — plus Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch, the most popular exhibition at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island.
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Ambitious plans for a $10.2 million renovation of Lafayette Park have received enthusiastic support from neighbors and a unanimous thumbs-up from the Recreation and Park Commission.
In addition, a fund-raising mechanism has been put into place to allow park supporters to solicit contributions to supplement available bond funding to create a more elaborate 13,000 sq. ft. playground. It may include vibrantly colored play areas for children of various ages, along with boulder climbing, a tunnel slide, a creek, a tower and what landscape architect Jeffrey Miller called “the world’s longest monkey bar.”
“We think it’s going to be full of fantasy and fun,” Miller said.
The conceptual plan for the park makeover was developed by city staffers working closely with the Friends of Lafayette Park and other local residents. Many of the people who participated in the planning sessions appeared before the Rec and Park Commission December 16 to praise the process and support the plans for what several called “the crown jewel of the park department.”
But some concerns were raised.
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After 49 years, Fillmore Hardware closed its doors for the final time on the day after Christmas.
Read more: “Fillmore Hardware closing”
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Photograph of Browser Books by Kathi O'Leary
FIRST PERSON | Ken Samuels
The other day, while selling some books to a couple of young men, I realized I’d known them since they were little kids pleading with their mothers to buy them Berenstain Bears books.
That sums up my decade and a half at Browser Books on Fillmore and Sacramento selling books to the families of this neighborhood. I get to know them as they return again and again. Some kids are shy, nudging their parents to the counter to ask a question, while others march up and confidently fire away with their requests. Hands down, these are the most rewarding moments of my workday.
I never forget how booksellers shared their enthusiasm for literature with me when I was a child. Along with my family, they made me a lover of books — and in time a writer. I don’t know if I’m helping neighborhood kids become writers, but I hope I’m helping them become book and bookstore lovers.
Browser Books, like all independent bookshops, faces many challenges these days, but our relationship with the readers in this neighborhood is what sustains us. It begins with the young ones. One minute they’re reading Harold and the Purple Crayon and before you know it they’re on to War and Peace. After all these years, I still love to watch this development.
To me, that’s the definition of being a local, neighborhood bookseller.
Ken Samuels has worked at Browser Books since 1996.
EARLIER: “Thank God for Browser Books”
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Photograph of Fillmore Hardware by Rose Hodges
One of Fillmore Street’s iconic institutions will disappear by the end of the year when Fillmore Hardware closes its doors promptly at 5:55 for the final time.
For 49 years — since 1961 — the store has been the ultimate neighborhood-serving business. Originally twice its present size, it was a full-service hardware and glass company that furnished the materials used to renovate many of the Victorians in the neighborhood. In recent years it become a more eclectic emporium, keeping the basics but focusing more on housewares and whimsy.
“Simply put, we are tired,” owners and sisters Patti Lack and Terri Alonzo write in a letter to their customers and neighbors. “We considered staying one more year so we could celebrate 50 years in business,” the sisters write, adding, “It just isn’t worth it.” The two sisters have been running the store since their brother-in-law, Phil Dean, retired in 2005 after nearly 40 years as manager. Their father, Jim Hayes, remained actively involved in the business until his death last year at age 89.
“We never could have closed while he was alive,” Patti Lack said. “It kept him going.”
She said they will gradually sell off the store’s considerable inventory in the coming weeks and hope to be out by December 31. They own the building and have retained a broker to offer it for lease. She said they had not considered selling the store, which was started by their grandfather.
“Nobody wants to buy a hardware store,” she said. “The only reason we’ve lasted is because we own the building.”
Lack said it was an especially difficult decision given the number of people who come in regularly and tell them it’s their favorite store.
“It’s just time,” she said. “But we’re gonna totally miss it.”
EARLIER: Fillmore Phil Dean: a good egg
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There’s been no breakthrough yet, but negotiations are continuing between the owner of the Clay Theater and the San Francisco Film Society, which hopes to make the theater its home.
In addition, the owner’s architect has met with the CEO of Landmark Theatres, the current operator, about renovations that might make the theater attractive to Landmark as a long-term operator.
“We are actively engaged,” said architect Charles Kahn. He said it appears that both Landmark and the Film Society prefer a single-screen theater over his proposal to create three smaller theaters, and that owner Balgobind Jaiswal is agreeable. More contentious is Jaiswal’s desire to build four townhouses above the theater and excavate underneath for parking.
“The theater is secondary to their desire to build condos,” said Graham Leggett, executive director of the Film Society. “We worry it’s not going to be workable for us.” Getting permits and building the condos could take years, Leggett said, and require the theater to go dark during construction.
Kahn said the condos are essential to fund the renovation of the theater. He said the owner is “absolutely committed” to finding a way to save the theater.
Film Society leaders have met with Kahn three times, most recently with an architect of their own they retained to help shape the future of the 100-year-old theater. “It seems problematic at the moment, but at least there’s a dialogue,” Leggett said. “It’s a work in progress.”
EARLIER: How the Clay dodged a bullet
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