Online Petition Seeks to Save Closing San Francisco Music Venue Mezzanine

A new petition is hoping to save longtime San Francisco music venue Mezzanine — which announced last week that it would be closing next year and be replaced with office space.

Officials with Mezzanine, located at 444 Jessie St., said that after 15 years it's being forced to close in October 2019 because the building's owners decided not to renew its lease.

Molly Bacon, who started the online petition said on the page, "It is the largest independent female-owned music venue in San Francisco and a staple of the SF music scene. Now, the Mezzanine is being forced to shut down due to the building owners' desire for a 600 percent rent increase."

"The Mezzanine joins a growing and depressing list of San Francisco music venues that have shuttered or ceded to corporate control this year," Bacon said. "Hemlock Tavern and Elbo Room both recently announced their closure due to greedy developers," referencing two other San Francisco music venues also set to close soon.

The petition, which can be found at www.care2.com/go/z/mezzanine, has reportedly garnered more than 6,000 signatures since this afternoon.

Last week, Mezzanine's owner Deborah Jackman said that she was disappointed the building's owners didn't grant her a new lease and denied her a three-month extension so that the venue could close at the end of 2019.

"What I find most disturbing is that Mezzanine, like so many other cultural institutions, has fallen victim to corporate greed and commercial development," she said.

As the venue prepares to close, Mezzanine said it's planning a Sweet Sixteen celebration in April 2019 with numerous high-profile shows scheduled for that month.

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