Chinatown group seeks museum at historic site
A group of Chinatown activists is quietly exploring buying the landmark six-story Empress of China building to house what would be the first museum in the U.S. devoted to Chinese American history — and to honor the late Ed Lee, the city’s first Chinese American mayor.
“San Francisco is the most Chinese American city in the country, and an obvious potential site for such an institution,” said Vincent Pan, executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. He came up with the idea and has enlisted support from local groups including the Chinese Historical Society of America.
The 838 Grant Ave. property is just a block
from historic Portsmouth Square, which some politicians have already begun pushing to rename after Lee. Now there is talk of blending the two efforts, with the museum serving as an entryway to the park behind it.
The site is appealing to Pan and his allies, both because of its size and its location, in the heart of the oldest Chinatown in the U.S.
“I think it’s a great idea, and am very pleased I was invited to be a part of it as they get it going,” said Chronicle columnist and former Mayor Willie Brown, who has volunteered to help coach the effort. He is also a supporter of acting Mayor London
Breed, who is looking for all the help she can get from Chinatown in the upcoming mayor’s race.
For 48 years, the Empress of China restaurant was a prominent gathering spot for celebrities and neighborhood regulars alike. It closed in 2014 and has been vacant since.
But even with help from Brown, it’s going take a lot of work — and maybe a bit of arm twisting — to turn it into a museum.
Two years ago, Chinatown property owner
purchased the building for $17.2 million, after brokers promoted the idea that it might be suitable for a tech outfit looking for space in San Francisco’s tight office market. That suggestion drew a swift rebuke from activists looking to preserve Chinatown as an affordable and historic neighborhood.
More recently, Yee has been seeking permits to convert at least a portion of the building into a hotel and restaurant, but the proposal has run into roadblocks at the Planning Department.
In the meantime, Pan and others have been talking with San Francisco Democratic Assemblymen David Chiu and Phil Ting, along with Breed, to try to put some political muscle behind the museum idea.
There’s also the little question of finding the money for such a project. Backers say they would seek private funding, but also hope to reel in whatever local, state and federal money they can.
“If we don’t raise $50 million to buy the building and build it out, we don’t deserve it,” said David Ho, a Chinatown political consultant enlisted to work on the project.
There’s one big unknown: Would Yee be willing to sell or lease the space for the project?
We’re told that just days before his death, Lee met with Yee to float the museum idea.
Neither Yee nor his representatives could be reached for comment. And for the moment, project backers say they don’t know where he stands.
Mayoral money: London Breed has the title of acting San Francisco mayor, but not the pay.
As acting mayor, Breed still pulls down the same $121,606 salary as her colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, where the District Five representative is president.
However, if Breed lines up the six votes needed to become interim mayor, her annual salary would rise to $326,527. Of course, she wouldn’t be interim mayor for a full year — she’ll either get the job full-time if she wins the June 5 election, or someone else will move into Room 200.
In fact, the prospect of a huge pay hike — in this case, $204,921 — is one reason supervisors such as Breed are barred by the City Charter from voting for themselves as interim mayor.
And finally: A “special meeting notice” has gone out to members of San Francisco’s city commissions for a social luncheon Tuesday at Capurro’s seafood restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf.
The gathering, which has Chronicle columnist and former Mayor Willie Brown as the headliner, was organized by Fire Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese — who just filed papers to run for district attorney next year.
The city attorney’s office instructed Breed’s deputy chief of staff, Francis Tsang, to issue a memo to city departments making clear that “a majority of commissioners from the same commission should refrain from discussing among themselves city business at the event” so it doesn’t “inadvertently become an unlawful commission meeting.”
“There will be a table available for the public if they want to come,” said Veronese, although the official notice of the meeting says non-invitees who show up “are not entitled to refreshments or food.”
Veronese said the gathering is meant as a “thank you” to commission members for giving their time to the city.
“When it comes down to it, you realize there is not a whole lot of thanks,” he said. “You put in countless hours and don’t get paid for it.”
They don’t even get a free lunch — each ticket is $40.