Sacramento commission to consider LGBTQ historic district for Lavender Heights
Kristin Freeman’s children were born after the death of her uncle Harvey Thompson, so they never got to know him personally.
She’s made sure, though, to keep his memory alive for them.
Thompson and his business partner Sandy Pomerantz were two of the first doctors in the Sacramento area to treat AIDS patients. Both men eventually died of AIDS-related complications themselves.
“I’m proud of him,” said Freeman, who was in college when her uncle died nearly 40 years ago and is now 62. “I tell my kids a lot about him, because they weren’t obviously able to know him. But they know him through some of the stories.”
More people could soon learn the story of Thompson and other LGBTQ pioneers in Sacramento.
On Wednesday, the Sacramento Preservation Commission is set to review a list of 20 addresses proposed by city staff either as LGBTQ landmarks or as part of a Lavender Heights Historic District. The building at 912 21st St. where Thompson and Pomerantz had their medical practice during the 1980s is proposed for inclusion in the historic district.
In addition to historical figures such as Thompson and Pomerantz, the list also features some of Sacramento’s most prominent gay-owned businesses.
Which LGBTQ sites made the list
Some of the business names on the list for the historic district might not surprise anyone who’s been out for a night in Lavender Heights.
The Mercantile Saloon, which has operated since 1976 at 1928 L St. and is the city’s oldest gay bar still operating, is proposed for the district. So are Faces and The Depot, longtime LGBTQ nightlife destinations directly across from each other at the corner of 20th and K streets.
“This is a big landmark,” said Marcus Mosinske, regional manager for The Depot. “It’s a big location that’s been here for multiple years, and we’ve always been wanting to be a highlight in this community. So it is amazing to be part of that.”
In all, there are eight proposed LGBTQ landmarks and 12 proposed entries for the Lavender Heights Historic District.
“I really think it’s important for the city to recognize these landmarks, because Lavender Heights is not just one block,” said Priya Kumar, a spokesperson for the center. “It is this whole neighborhood and there’s like so many businesses and areas where history happened.”
Other well-known stops in the historic district could include the LGBT-friendly First United Methodist Church at 2100 J St. and a Victorian at 1931 L St. that once housed what is now the Sacramento LGBT Community Center.
Not every well-known building in Lavender Heights made the list for the historic district.
Henry Feuss, a preservation planner for the city, said the cutoff for the historic district was the year 2000, which ruled out Badlands. While the club is a popular destination and has hosted performances by drag queens that include BenDeLaCreme of RuPaul’s Drag Race, it was built in the mid-2000s.
City staff evaluated the MARRS Building at the behest of its owner Mike Heller, who was interested in having it be part of the historic district and qualifying for a Mills Act property tax reduction.
“We did the research and we couldn’t find a real LGBTQ connection,” said Sean de Courcy, the city’s preservation director.
The current home of the Sacramento LGBT Community Center at 1015 20th St. also didn’t make the cut.
“We didn’t have an association that actually tied to the period of significance from the ’80s to ’90s,” Feuss said. “But that building is already a historic landmark so it wouldn’t necessarily be changing anything.”
Many landmark gay businesses are gone
Between both the list of proposed landmarks and the Lavender Heights Historic District, there was a common theme: Many of the addresses were associated with businesses or organizations that are long gone.
Some of the businesses fell victim to biases of the day. One of the proposed LGBTQ landmarks is 729-731 J St., where the bar The Windsor was located. It went out of business after the 1957 suspension of its liquor license “on a charge the place had been operated as a hangout for homosexuals,” according to the Sacramento Union.
Other times, organizations simply appear to have outgrown their spaces. On Saturday morning during the Midtown Farmers Market, Dominique Hinson and Destiny Snyder stood outside Pachamama Coffee at 919 20th St., where what is now known as the Sacramento LGBT Community Center was located in the 1990s.
“Anytime there’s a story behind a building … I’m all for it,” Snyder said.
Then there are the buildings that had multiple LGBTQ stories, such as 912 21st St. where Harvey Thompson and Sandy Pomerantz operated their medical practice. The practice opened in the late 1970s.
Thompson reportedly treated patients up to two weeks before his death at 45 in 1986. Freeman remembered what, in general, drove her uncle. “I think he always had an affinity for people who at that time were very marginalized for their disease,” Freeman said.
Pomerantz continued the practice on his own until 1988. “I am very fatigued,” Pomerantz said in a press conference at the time. “ It’s time to care for myself.”
Pomerantz died five years later in 1993 at 44.
In 1996, Ron Grantz and his romantic partner Larry Bailey launched an LGBT bookstore, The Open Book, in the building of the former medical office.
Their business survived being egged and having its windows broken, with Grantz and Bailey eventually growing the store to 11,000 titles. The store served coffee, hosted readings and drew both gay and straight customers. But eventually, forces like Amazon became too much. The men closed shop in 2005.
“It became an expensive hobby,” said Grantz, who is now 86 and lives in South Land Park. “It got to the point that it was time to close, because it just wasn’t sustaining itself. The community had kind of changed and they weren’t using it as much.”
A wellness and beauty business, THEA, operates in the building today, which has the addresses of both 910 and 912 21st St.
Response to proposed historic district
On Wednesday, the preservation commission is set to review the proposed LGBTQ landmarks and Lavender Heights Historic District.
Sacramento City Council could review the matter in about six months, according to de Courcy.
Reactions at the Midtown Farmers Market on Saturday to the proposed landmarks and historic district were positive.
Harvey Bilt, who moved with his wife to midtown from Miami in recent years, said he thought the proposal was a good idea.
“I think we all should be inclusive, and that’s what we like about living here in Sacramento,” he said.
Carrie Boyle of Antelope said it was fantastic the district would include Faces, The Depot and The Mercantile. “Those are iconic places in this city and I think this community needs to be celebrated,” Boyle said.
Asked what it meant for his former business location to be part of the historic district, Grantz was modest. “I hadn’t really thought about it much, but it is interesting,” Grantz said. “I’m glad that we could contribute to the community.”
Freeman, who lives in Tacoma, Washington, only recently became aware of the city of Sacramento’s recognition of her uncle.
“It thrills me and it’s so deserved and so appropriate,” Freeman said. “I love it. It kind of gets me a little bit emotional.”
