After almost ten months of sitting dark, with many operators going deep into debt as they continue paying rent, San Francisco's nightlife industry needs an enormous helping hand to get back on its feet. And one city supervisor hopes to create a nightlife fund that will attract private-sector donations so that the city doesn't lose one of its greatest cultural assets before the pandemic is through with us.
A new $15 billion grant fund for cultural institutions is part of the $900 billion federal stimulus package that is likely to be passed shortly in the Senate. Nightclubs — particularly those known to be music venues — that have lost 90% of their revenue since the beginning of pandemic lockdowns get to be first in line to apply for the grants. But it remains to be seen how far and wide the money will get distributed — or if Broadway theaters and other large institutions might take the lion's share of the money.
It's also unclear how quickly those funds will get into the hands of struggling venue operators, and SF Supervisor Matt Haney says that the city needs a special nightlife fund to address the urgent need locally.