History
The Beginning
The Rainbow Flag
More Recently
Lorem ipsum, the community has sought to reimagine Harvey Milk Plaza as a welcoming, vibrant space that honors Harvey's life and legacy, celebrates his enduring importance to the LGBTQ+ community.
For over 25 years, the community has sought to reimagine Harvey Milk Plaza as a welcoming, vibrant space that honors Harvey's life and legacy, celebrates his enduring importance to the LGBTQ+ community, and inspires all by acting as a beacon of hope to marginalized communities worldwide.
“As designated by the city, Harvey Milk Plaza includes the entire intersection” of Castro & Market Streets, pointed out a group leading an earlier effort, Castro Area Planning + Action. Their plans envisioned transforming the entire intesection into a traffic circle and developing the center island, as well as the surrounding corners. Today, when people say “Harvey Milk Plaza”, they are referring to the architecture at the southwest corner, designed by Reid & Tarics Associates to function as an open-air entrance to the new Castro Muni Station.
From the start, the community has remained remarkably consistent in the overarching ideas they want to see present in the reimagined Harvey Milk Plaza:
01. Honor Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk Plaza should be a meaningful and inspirational space that honors Harvey’s legacy and his messages of greater inclusivity and hope.
02. Gathering Space
The space should accommodate groups of various sizes so that the space can become better integrated into the Castro neighborhood.
03. Safety & Security
The code compliance issues and other design-related problems at the site should be addressed so that all feel safe and secure while there.
04. Increase Accessibility
The space and transit functions at the site should be designed to be accommodating and easily accessed by all.
Lorem ipsum, the community has sought to reimagine Harvey Milk Plaza as a welcoming, vibrant space that honors Harvey's life and legacy, celebrates his enduring importance to the LGBTQ+ community.
The existing construction was designed to function only as a transit station entrance. The station was built in the late 1970s and the area in and around the station was unofficially given the name “Harvey Milk Plaza” in 1979, one year after Harvey’s death. It was not originally designed to be a memorial or significant gathering space, and has struggled to meet the desire of the community to gather in the space named for the “Mayor of Castro Street.” And still, it is considered by many to be at the historic heart of San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community.
On September 15, 1985, Mayor Dianne Feinstein, Board of Supervisors President John L. Molinari and Harvey’s successor, Supervisor Harry Britt officially dedicated this southwest corner of the intersection, the Muni Station entrance, to be known as “Harvey Milk Plaza.”
Lorem ipsum, the community has sought to reimagine Harvey Milk Plaza as a welcoming, vibrant space that honors Harvey's life and legacy, celebrates his enduring importance to the LGBTQ+ community.
In 1997, Mayor Willie Brown ordered the installation of Gilbert Baker’s Rainbow Flag, the iconic large flagpole that continues to fly a highly-visible version of Gilbert Baker’s iconic rainbow flag. This flag was created here in San Francisco where it first flew in 1978. Quickly, it was adopted by communities elsewhere and today is recognized across the world as a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. This art installation was installed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Harvey’s election to the SF Board of Supervisors. The flagpole installation became a San Francisco City Landmark #TK in 2024, through legislation sponsored by Sup. Rafael Mandelman and signed into law by Mayor London Breed.
Lorem ipsum, the community has sought to reimagine Harvey Milk Plaza as a welcoming, vibrant space that honors Harvey's life and legacy, celebrates his enduring importance to the LGBTQ+ community.
In ten community meetings lead by The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza in January 2017 – June 2021, The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza gathered input from the community about their hopes and ideas for the new Harvey Milk Plaza. Not surprisingly, the feedback collected was aligned with feedback collected as far back as 1997. Above all else, community members wanted to see Harvey Milk and the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement celebrated with something special that reflected Harvey’s enduring significance to the worldwide LGBTQ+ community. Also important was space to gather as a community in the square named for the community’s hero.
On November 8, 2017, the 40th anniversary of Harvey Milk being elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the illuminated neon sign “Hope Will Never Be Silent” debuted on the façade of the Beaux Arts-style building located adjacent to Harvey Milk Plaza. Commissioned by The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, the illuminated sign is a permanent greeting to all who call Castro home, be they San Francisco residents or visitors from around the world.
Expand content to include SFMTA elevator project and the formation of Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza in 2016, followed by the extensive community outreach/engagement effort that led to the new design created by SWA Group.