The legendary Pier 24 Photography in SF is to close permanently
Pier 24 Photography, the expansive museum that displays the collection of its founder, Andy Pillara, announced Friday that it will close when its lease with the Port of San Francisco expires in July 2025.
The Pilara Foundation, which constructed the abandoned pier near Bay Bridge and opened as a quiet haven for the photographic arts in 2010, will shift its focus to organizations in the fields of healthcare research, the arts and education, Pilara said in a statement. Bellara indicated that the closure was precipitated by a Long battle over lease extension.
“After struggling for five years to secure a new lease with the San Francisco Port Commission and their final decision to triple our rent, it certainly informed our decision to close,” Pilara said in a statement. “Instead of operating with a much higher annual budget, we believe local organizations can put the money to better use.”
Port Director Elaine Forbes said in a statement that the agency has had a “successful partnership with the Pilara Foundation over the years,” and that if the foundation chooses to let their lease expire, “we will be sorry to see them go and hope they continue to find ways to share their unique and inspiring collection with the public.”
Pier 24 is one of the world’s largest places to see photography. Since its inception, it has always been free to show the comprehensive collection of more than 5,000 works by 500 photographers, all of which were purchased by the Pilara Foundation.
The gallery is approximately 27,000 square feet and attendance has always been by reservation and limited, to provide the viewer with a serene experience while looking at the Pilara collection, along with other private collections on loan, such as the Bob and Randi Fisher collection.
The staff holds only one exhibition a year, while the Larry Sultan Visiting Artist Program, with California College of the Arts, is also co-sponsored. Pier 24 has also published 20 books on photography.
Keith Silva watches “The Little Screens” by Lee Friedlander at Pier 24 Photography, Thursday, July 1, 2021, in San Francisco, California.
Santiago Mejia, Staff/The ChronicleAt the end of 2019, The Port of San Francisco has served an evacuation notice on the gallery space for failure to pay $1.3 million in back rent accumulated during the 10-year lease, plus two years of month-to-month extensions.
Pier 24 responded that he was not adequately credited for the $14 million it cost to build the old wooden pier. Attempts to negotiate a settlement failed, and the issue appeared to come to a head when the port ordered Al-Riwaq to vacate the building by January 2020.
A deal was eventually struck, with terms requiring just under $93,000 in base rent, or $3.40 per square foot for 27,311 square feet. Pier 24 received $5.5 million in lease credits for pier improvements. That breaks down to $3.19 per square foot, which reduces his monthly costs to 21 cents per square foot, or $5,735 per month. The deal was for five years, retroactive to the beginning of the negotiations.
Part of the deal also stipulated that Pier 24 would continue its school and community outreach program. After causing a COVID-19 closure, it reopened in July 2021, with a 10th anniversary exhibition. The second part of this exhibition, titled “Looking Ahead”, was inaugurated and will continue until the end of the year.
A follow-up is not planned yet, but there will be a final exhibition, said Chris McCall, director of Pier 24.
It is not yet known what will happen to the full-time staff of six, the group or the dock that houses the Embarcadero.
Sam Whiting is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF