This is more than just a symbolic resolution, because the city owns the building, and the SF Board of Supervisors promised that the currently closed Mission Cultural Center will stay put and reopen no matter what.<\/p>\n
The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts<\/a> has been a nearly 50-year cultural anchor at 24th and Mission streets, particularly for its Dia de los Muertos activities and Carnaval dance classes and after parade meet-ups. But the venue has always operated 52 weeks a year, with other arts classes and cultural programming. <\/p>\n That\u2019s why it was such a punch in the gut to so many people when the Mission Cultural Center closed abruptly last month<\/a>, as the nonprofit that runs it was deeply in debt, had laid everyone off<\/a>, and was out of compliance with its lease that required it be operating if it was occupying the space. <\/p>\n Yet the Mission Cultural Center\u2019s current closure may prove to be a short-term, quickly forgotten blip. On Tuesday night, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to preserve the Mission Cultural Center at its current 2868 Mission Street location. And that is no idle resolution, considering that the city owns the building. So they can determine who the tenant is, regardless of the center\u2019s ongoing financial issues.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople come from all over the Bay Area and the country to the Mission Cultural Center,\u201d Supervisor Myrna Melgar said before the vote. \u201cIt\u2019s provided livelihood for artists for generations, and that needs to continue to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The measure\u2019s author, Supervisor Jackie Fielder, added, \u201cIt is a priceless, priceless place of future-making for the Mission.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the center\u2019s debt and financial problems that have come to light, Melgar argued the center produces much more revenue than people realize.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the funding that the city provides was essential for the organization, it wasn’t the only funding that the organization had,\u201d Melgar said Tuesday. \u201cThe building was actually generating a significant amount of income in rents, art showings, and economic activity.\u201d<\/p>\n The supervisors had already designated the Mission Cultural Center as a landmark at 2868 Mission Street location in 2022. The center has operated there since 1977. \u00a0<\/p>\n There will still be a fairly long-term closure at the Mission Cultural Center, as the city-owned building is scheduled for a three-year seismic retrofit. Supervisor Melgar suggested that the SF Arts Commission, which manages the building, did the center no favors with a vague and non-committal retrofit timeline, that contributed to the center’s financial hardships.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this had been the ballet or the opera, this wouldn’t have happened,\u201d according to Melgar.<\/p>\n Related: Mission Cultural Center Abruptly Closes, Was Apparently Drowning in Red Ink [SFist]<\/a><\/p>\n