Long-running San Francisco punk bar and live music venue Thee Parkside has announced it will be shutting its doors, with the building slated for demolition to make way for new condominiums.
Located on 17th Street in Potrero Hill, Thee Parkside confirmed the news via Instagram on Tuesday, sharing footage of freshly spray-painted graffiti on its patio wall that read: “This will be condos you can’t afford!” The venue stated that live music will cease at the end of March, after which it will briefly operate as a bar before closing entirely.
Owner Malia Spanyol had previously warned that the venue’s future was in jeopardy following the death of the building’s former owner last year. Despite holding first rights to purchase the property, Spanyol was outbid by a developer who purchased the building for $1.33 million. Speaking with Mission Local last August, she expressed concern that eviction could happen immediately — a scenario that ultimately played out.
In a candid statement, Thee Parkside addressed the closure head-on:
“Well, looks like we’re gonna turn into a buncha condos. We don’t have an exact end date, but we’ll be stopping live music at the end of March and then just be a bar for a few months after that.”
“This neighborhood will be pretty boring with both us and Bottom Of The Hill gone. It feels like we’re just one more small business dying in this city — the culture, the weirdos, the arts, the working class. The third spaces that once thrived are being replaced with bland, expensive corporations or left vacant.”
The venue has invited bands to reach out to play final shows, encouraged patrons to share memories, sign its online “yearbook,” grab remaining merch, and support staff during the final stretch. The post closes with a mix of humor, frustration, and defiance — hallmarks of the space itself.
Originally opened as Frank’s Place in 1911, the building has stood for more than a century. Since becoming Thee Parkside in the early 2000s, it has remained a vital fixture in San Francisco’s underground music ecosystem, hosting countless punk, hardcore, and DIY shows. Known as a true dive bar, it provided a stage for artists and scenes often overlooked by larger venues — the lifers, the outsiders, and the community that grew up alongside it.
The loss has already been felt across the local music world. Thrillhouse Records summed up the sentiment shared by many:
“Losing an immensely important club like Parkside is like a death in the family. The brutality of capitalism has left San Francisco with fewer and fewer places to throw punk shows. Every time one disappears, it’s deeply felt.”
With Thee Parkside joining a growing list of shuttered Bay Area venues, its closure marks another blow to the city’s once-thriving DIY and punk culture — a scene increasingly pushed aside by rising costs and redevelopment.
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