MAKING MUSIC HISTORY
AT AN ICONIC SAN FRANCISCO CORNER
Blue Bear School of Music and KEXP are working with San Francisco Heritage to explore the creation of an extraordinary new music and cultural hub at Haight & Ashbury.
Read about the project the SF Chronicle!
Find out more in our official Press Release
An extraordinary opportunity for Blue Bear and for San Francisco
San Francisco Heritage has selected the proposal led by KEXP, in partnership with Blue Bear School of Music, as the sole finalist for the future adaptive reuse of the historic Doolan-Larson House and Storefronts at Haight & Ashbury.
Together, we’re exploring a vision for one of the country’s most unique and highly integrated civic music hubs—a place that brings music education, broadcasting, live performance, music discovery and community together under one roof.
And for Blue Bear, it could mean something especially exciting: an entire floor dedicated to music education.
THREE NONPROFITS. ONE SHARED VISION.
BLUE BEAR SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Music education, youth programming and more than five decades of San Francisco roots.
KEXP
A globally recognized nonprofit music organization bringing broadcasting, music discovery, performance and public gathering to the project.
SAN FRANCISCO HERITAGE
Owner and steward of the Doolan-Larson property, dedicated to preserving San Francisco’s architectural and cultural heritage.
“Working together, KEXP and Blue Bear will build one of the country’s most unique, innovative, and highly integrated civic music hubs.”
“By selecting this project, SF Heritage is opening a space for us to create a complete music ecosystem: one that combines broadcasting, performance, discovery, education, and community under one roof.”
— Steve Savage, Executive Director, Blue Bear School of Music
The most famous intersection in the world.
Few places are more closely associated with music, creativity and cultural change.
The Doolan-Larson House and Storefronts sit at the northwest corner of Haight and Ashbury. San Francisco Heritage has stewarded the historic property since 2017, when longtime owner Norm Larson donated it to the organization.
Now, this remarkable building has the potential to honor that history not by freezing it in time, but by filling it with music again.
What's next?
KEXP’s proposal with Blue Bear has been selected by San Francisco Heritage as the sole finalist for further consideration, and the organizations have signed a letter of intent to continue exploring the project.
Over the coming months, the partners will work together to refine the adaptive reuse plan, gather community input, evaluate construction and financing feasibility, and explore a potential capital campaign.
The project will continue to evolve as feasibility is determined and community input is gathered.
FROM 1971 TO WHAT COMES NEXT
For more than half a century, Blue Bear has believed that making music changes lives.
Now we have the opportunity to imagine what that belief could look like at Haight & Ashbury, bringing students, musicians, artists, neighbors and music lovers together at a corner synonymous with San Francisco music history.
We’re incredibly excited about what’s possible.