For years the 2800 block of Geary Boulevard has served as an unremarkable stretch of commerce typical of the workmanlike boulevard that acts as a conduit for San Francisco’s heavy bus traffic streaming downtown from the Richmond District.
It’s a place where British expats go for bangers and mash at the Pig and Whistle. Where pool players compete in 8 ball tournaments at Family Billiards. And where cannabis aficionados stop for sativa gummies or pre-rolled joints at the Mission Organic Dispensary.
If you are not going to one of those places, you are probably going to drive by. In the middle of the block is a big empty concrete building that used to be occupied by Bank of America.
Now the block at Geary and Wood Street, which sits just beneath the University of San Francisco campus and near both Laurel Heights and the Inner Richmond neighborhoods, is set to become a $50 million aquatic center for the Schools of the Sacred Heart, a partnership of the all-girls Convent of the Sacred Heart High School and Stuart Hall High School.
Pub decorations, sports memorabilia, and other ephemera decorate the walls and shelves at the Pig and Whistle. (Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle)
The 65,000-square-foot sports facility will rise 63 feet and include a large basement-level lap pool with bleachers, a second floor gymnasium with a basketball court and bleachers and a third floor with performance and meditation studios. The rooftop field will be large enough to fit a soccer pitch.
Convent and Stuart Hall President Dr. Ann Marie Krejcarek said the search for a home for a new sports complex – with the emphasis on swimming and water polo – took 11 years and might not have worked out had it not been for the pandemic, which drove up commercial vacancies. The owner of the Bank of America property, who had previously been reluctant to sell, changed his mind.
Not all of the businesses currently on the block will survive. The Family Billiards will close in about two years when construction starts. And the Pig and Whistle, which the schools also own the property of, will shut down after its lease expires in 2031.
After 34 years of serving fish and chips in the little wooden English-style pub, Pig and Whistle owner Steve Anderson knows his days are numbered. He said he tried to buy the building from the previous owner as well as from Convent and Stuart Hall. He said his two-story joint will look like the little house in the animated Pixar film “Up” next to the six-story athletic complex wrapped in curtain wall glass.
“All they said is they are not interested in selling and they do have plans for the building,” Anderson said. “I am resigned to the fact that we have a little over six years left here. End of an era I guess you could say.”
Steve Anderson, left to right, owner, and Paul Jasper, of San Francisco, talk at the bar at The Pig and Whistle on Friday, November 14, 2025 in San Francsico. (Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle)
Krejcarek, who came to San Francisco from a school with an 80-acre campus, said the schools’ aquatic programs have done what most city schools do – they dove into any swimming lane that was available in public recreation centers across San Francisco and Marin. But none of the San Francisco pools are the right size for regulation water polo.
“If you are interested in that sport you are playing it outside of the city,” Krejcarek said
Project architect Jennifer Tulley of TEF said the project team evaluated 20 properties: some were historic, which would limit what could be done there. Some were not for sale. Others were too far from Convent and Stuart Hall’s main campuses.
Krejcarek said the school would love to help Family Billards relocate, but so far the business owners, who couldn’t be reached for comment, seem resigned to closing.
“We would absolutely help them find a new location if we could in any way shape or form,” she said.
A pedestrian walks past The Pig and Whistle in San Francisco. The block on Geary Boulevard will soon change as a new high school athletic complex will be constructed. (Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle)
Krejcarek said the Pig and Whistle would be able to stay through its lease in 2031, but after that the schools would take over the space. She said it might be a student club house or spirit center for the Catholic school’s spiritual life and community development.
“They will be able to live through their lease with a little construction noise and hopefully a little more business because of the activity,” she said.
Anderson said the business is still down 85% from 2019, largely because USF students drink less than previous generations. He is hoping parents waiting for their kids to finish water polo or swim practice will “pop in for a pint.”
“It’s almost amusing that they have the facility dealing with kids and they have my place, a bar and restaurant, on one side and a marijuana dispensary on the other side,” he said. “Probably some of the parents will love it.”
Chris McKenna, bar manager, prepares martinis as he serves customers at The Pig and Whistle. (Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle)
This article originally published at Elite S.F. private schools’ $50 million complex to push out neighborhood pool hall, British pub.