When rumors started spreading this summer that the bohemian Lower Haight teahouse and events space The Center was on the brink of closure, a group of staff members and volunteers embarked on a frantic rescue effort.
The decade-old space had become a hub for artists, Burners, body workers, and techies, known for yoga, ecstatic dance parties, and workshops around topics like tantra, “authentic relating,” and nonmonogamy. For many, it functioned as a sober third space in a city desperate for more of them.
“At first, the idea was like, ‘Hey, can we raise a bunch of money and keep The Center open?’” said Derek Pankaew, a tech founder and teahouse volunteer who’d been going there since the beginning. “But it quickly became apparent that that couldn’t happen.”
After a year of struggles that included permitting issues, departing founders, and disagreements over its connected group home, the business officially closed June 22. For Pankaew and a small group of devotees, the conversation shifted to continuing the community in a different form.
In the months since, they’ve started the nonprofit Gather Collective and are hunting for a space where they can resurrect The Center’s community. In the meantime, the team has started hosting events, including biweekly meditation gatherings and tea pop-ups.
The vision is to find a space where anyone can hang out and meet like-minded people, purchase tea and snacks served by volunteers, and attend a wide spectrum of wellness and spiritual events, according to Alex Zirbel, a Gather steward.
“It’s a community more than it is anything else, but it’s a tricky balance, because we also really want to make sure it’s sustainable and lasting,” he said. “After feeling the shock from The Center’s closure, we feel motivated to make sure that there’s a strong structure in place.”
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In practice, that means ensuring the nonprofit has an executive board that talks through succession plans and a commitment that everything is above board with Gather eventual landlord and the city. Unlike The Center, which clashed with the Planning and Public Health departments for not meeting food safety requirements, Gather will obtain permits to serve tea from the beginning.
The group has started touring venues and securing financial commitments and donations to cover move-in costs, but fulfilling its desired checklist — infrastructure to serve tea and snacks, an auxiliary space for events, and a location in or close to the Lower Haight — has proved challenging. (The Center’s former facility at 548 Fillmore St. does not appear to be available for rent.)
As Gather tries to “get the word out that we exist,” Zirbel’s hoping that The Center’s community will help manifest the right venue.
“I think some of the really unique and magical spaces aren’t necessarily on the market in the same way as other ones,” he said. “My hope is that over the coming months, as people get more excited to keep this institution around, things will find their way to us.”
Notably, Zack Wexler-Beron, who cofounded The Center and served as CEO, is not involved in Gather, though Zirbel said he frequently texts the former leader and has his blessing. Wexler-Beron did not respond to a request for comment.
“I think a fresh start could be really great for us,” Zirbel said.
Pankaew believes San Franciscans are hungry for both connections and sober spaces that stay open late. He imagines that Gather will have a “cozy vibe” and be full of interesting, curious people: “We want to create this feeling of, ‘Oh, this is our home.’”