SAN FRANCISCO—Higher rents brought on by gentrification in the historically anti-gentry Mission district have apparently taken a toll on sex clubs as well as individual denizens forced to pay more or move. Kinky reports on the recent closure of the Lusty Lady club, which AVN also noted, and poiints out that another longtime sex club called Mission Control is also under threat.
The “13-year-old sex-positive, community and member play space has lost its lease at 21st and Mission, and will be forced to move at the end of November. The club has been a space for fetish and play parties such as Kinky Salon, Pink, and Threshold,” Kinky reported. “Mission Control was launched by Polly Superstar and Barron Scott Levkoff in 2001. After ten years, the duo planned to close the club, but ended up transitioning it into a community-run members club.”
Polly told SF Gate in 2010, ”The inmates took over the asylum. The community rose up to keep the place alive. It was all rather inspiring and surprising. Now there is a team of experienced and sexy folks at the helm, and voting rights for volunteers.”
Unlike the Lusty Lady, however, Mission Control is determined to keep going. "Mission Control isn’t bricks and mortar. It’s not just a pretty paint job. Mission Control is PEOPLE, and with your help we will find a new club house soon," explain the owners on the company site. "We’re going to need your support in the coming months. We will be moving and decorating and fundraising, and hope to make this transition as smooth as possible."
For more about Mission Control, go here.
Image: The infamous Pink Room at Mission Control.
