If the folks over at Preservation Hall West, the jazz club under construction at 777 Valencia St., have their way, the venue will open sometime in October. That’s just in time for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, where the band after which the club is named — Preservation Hall Jazz Band — is expected to perform.
The timeline is a hopeful one and not guaranteed because of the complexities associated with a project of such magnitude, said the project’s sponsor, Phillip Lesser.
“It would be wonderful if all the construction and all the permits were in place so the guys could perform,” said Lesser. “This is the 50th anniversary for the Preservation Jazz Band; they were hoping that all of this would come together.”
Construction for the project started in early 2011. In addition to the jazz venue, the building, formerly home to New College, will house two full-service restaurants: Preservation Hall West and Second Line Café.
Last week the San Francisco Planning Commission approved plans to expand the venue’s size from 8,596 square feet to 10,015 square feet and to add storage and office space on the second floor.
“It’s not a one-two-three operation,” Lesser said. “This thing is really taking a lot of experts and a lot of back and forth with the building department. We are doing this thing right.”
Cool! Looks like it will be a classy, intimate venue.