June Newsletter

In This Newsletter:
Bay to Breakers Viewing Party
June SWNA Event: VMD Picnic Potluck!
June Upcoming Events
SOMA Business Events
SF Festivals

Bay to Breakers Viewing Party

Thanks to all the neighbors that came out to gathered early to watch the Bay to Breakers run go by. With coffee in hand and some light snacks to share, we caught up and enjoyed the creative costumes and energy of the race. It was a nice way to start the day together.

June SWNA Event: VMD Picnic Potluck!

6.21 11-1pm
We're getting together for a relaxed afternoon at Victoria Manalo Draves Park and would love for you to join. Bring your lunch, something comfortable to sit on, and if you’d like, something labeled to share with others. It’s a chance to connect, enjoy the park, and spend time with neighbors in the heart of SOMA West. Hope to see you there.

🏳️‍🌈 June Upcoming Events 🏳️‍🌈

6.1 11am–3pm
🌷SOMA Blooms
A free family-friendly day of gardening where kids can plant flowers and produce in the community garden.
Victoria Manalo Draves Park

6.5 10am–5pm
🖍️ NEW! Free First Thursdays at SF’s Museum of Craft and Design
Enjoy free admission to the Museum of Craft and Design every first Thursday of the month.
RSVP
2569 Third Street

6.5 4pm–9pm
🤠 Downtown Hoedown on Front St.
Line dancing, live bluegrass, a mechanical bull, disco bison, and more in this lively country-themed street fest.
RSVP
240 Front Street

6.7 6pm
🎥🍿 SF’s Free Outdoor Movie Night: “Wicked”
Enjoy a free screening of Wicked under the stars.
RSVP
Yerba Buena Gardens

6.13 5pm–10pm
🇵🇭 SF’s Filipino “Be Free” Festival 2025 (SoMa)
A celebration of Filipino culture with food, music, and community.
Get Your Free Ticket
Kapwa Gardens, 967 Mission St., San Francisco

6.14 11am–6pm
🎡 SF’s 2025 Juneteenth Freedom Celebration, Block Party & Free Carnival Rides
A community celebration of Black freedom and culture with music, food, and free carnival rides.
RSVP Here
Fillmore District (Fillmore St & Geary St)

6.14 2pm
🪷Hawaiian Dance Festival w/ Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu
Part of the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival featuring traditional Hawaiian hula dance.
Learn More
Yerba Buena Gardens

6.18 6pm–8pm
🏗️ Architects in Conversation
Hear from the architects behind iconic SOMA homes in this evening talk.
Register Here (this is a paid event)
Center for Architecture + Design, 140 Sutter Street

6.19 6pm
🥂 SOMA CBD Happy Hour
Relax and connect with neighbors and friends at this casual evening meetup.
Bergerac

6.26 TBA
🎉SF Pride Block Party
A high-energy celebration of Queer Joy with live DJs, talent shows, and dancing.
Learn More
Yerba Buena Park

6.28 6–9pm
🎨Opening Reception: Venarum Mundi by Faith XLVII
South African artist Faith XLVII presents a solo exhibition exploring themes of interconnectedness and the human condition.
RSVP

6.29 10am
👯SF Pride Parade
The 55th annual Pride Parade marches down Market Street, celebrating LGBTQ+ pride and progress.
Begins at Embarcadero Plaza

SOMA Business Events

6.18 6:30–8pm
School of Decant: Intro to Sake
An educational tasting session led by Sake Educator Toff Eng, exploring the history and styles of sake.
More Info

6.5 8-11pm
GEMS @The Eagle
Enjoy this great 80's/90's cover band as they grace the Eagle with the musical stylings of Donna Summer, Any Winehouse, Alanis and more.
More Info

SF Festivals

6.14–6.15 11am–7pm
2025 North Beach Festival
A beloved neighborhood tradition featuring art, music, food vendors, and Italian culture.
Grant Avenue and Columbus Avenue, San Francisco

6.18–6.28
Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival
The world’s largest and longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival, showcasing powerful films and stories from around the globe.
Castro Theatre and other venues

6.19–6.22
Annual San Francisco Black Film Festival
Celebrating African American cinema and culture with a global selection of films from emerging and acclaimed filmmakers.
Multiple venues, San Francisco

SOMA History - Heron Arts Building

by Cindy Casey
If you attended the SOMA CBD Happy Hour at Heron Arts to view the
Hari & Deepti show “Forgotten Places,” you may not have realized the
building was once a laundry.

Built around 1907, the building that now houses Heron Arts was once
part of the Metropolitan Laundry Company and Power Plant.
According to the January 8, 1910, Journal of Electricity, this was a
modern, cutting-edge plant. It was touted as the largest and most up-to-
date in the U.S.
The laundry facility was housed in two buildings and covered an acre of
land.
A tunnel between the two buildings carried water from five wells dug
200 feet below the plant.
When SOMA was settled, most of it was a marshy swamp, with much of
it completely under water.

This system, with a capacity of 30,000 gallons an hour, was called
a Kennicott type and was the largest on the Pacific coast;  the
details of which can be read in its entirety in the article.
The electricity also supplied 50 electric hand irons and “washers,
extractors, mangles, and ventilating fans.”

The laundry, delivered by wagons, was marked by hand for
identification and then segregated into types. These would have been
blankets, flannels, towels, and starched pieces that required different

treatments. There were 110 washing machines, 40 wringers, eight
manglers, five conveyor dryers, and three lines of shirt machines.
In keeping with the times, there was even a collar area with tables,
ironers, and dampers, all operated by machines supplied by the power
plant.
The November 25, 1905 (page 13) San Francisco Chronicle explained
that the building was to be designed by Meyer and O’Brien at a cost of
$50,000 exclusive of the machinery. The building was to house offices,
an employee dining room, storerooms, and a soap factory on the top
floor.
A 1951 lawsuit between the US Government and the Metropolitan
Laundry Company revealed that the Company was organized in 1903.
At the time, it utilized shares of stock to obtain the routes of 11
laundries, 10 in San Francisco and one in Oakland, the value of which
was $155,100. It later purchased two more routes for $1500.
Except for a period following the 1906 earthquake and fire, the company
operated continuously from 1903 until 1943.
In February 1943, during WWII, the United States took possession of
the plant for military use, forcing the company to abandon its San
Francisco laundry routes. In March 1946, the military returned the
laundry to the company, and they resumed operating under a contract
with the army. Despite this, the inability to regain its regular business
forced the closure of the plant in December 1949.
Next time you attend one of SOMA CBD Happy Hours, take a look
around, the building just may be a font of SOMA history.