As San Francisco Mayor London Breed cut through a red ribbon to mark the completion of renovations to a pair of Tenderloin SRO Hotels, the spirit of Hank Wilson seemed to smile on the proceedings and literally beamed from the lobby.
Between the two historic buildings, the Ritz and Ambassador Hotels offer haven to some 220 low-income residents in the gritty Tenderloin. Built as an opera house, the Ambassador became a residential hotel in 1917. But it truly flung open its doors the widest in the 1970s when Wilson, a former kindergarten teacher took over its lease and began offering housing for the many gay men making their way to the city.
“Their rule was if you found your way into the lobby of them Ambassador,” said Bob Ostertag, a friend of Wilson’s who made a documentary about the Ambassador, “they were going to figure out a way to get you a room.”
The offer of housing became even more poignant as the AIDS crisis gripped the city — Wilson and the Ambassador became the only hotel in the city that would take in people suffering from HIV and AIDS. Ambulances would refuse to come to the hotel - and care was fleeting. Ostertag said a nurse would stop by after his shift to offer care to the dying.
“Hundreds of people died here, five people died in one day,” said Ostertag. “And they would have memorials for them in the lobby, that was a big thing.”
The non-profit Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation bought the Ambassador in 1999, and has run it since. The $16 million renovation included adding a massive steel seismic structure as well as ADA renovations. Adel Hennway moved into his small unit last September and was excited for a private home with below market rent and no roommates.
Local
“It’s perfect living on your own,” said Hennway. “Whatever you leave there, it’s there, whatever you clean there, it’s clean.”
For more than a century, the Ritz and Ambassador have served as havens for those on the margins, a sentiment that continues today.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
“A lot of folks come to the Tenderloin who are on the way up — there are a lot of folks in the tenderloin who are on the way down,” said Edmund Campos of TNDC. “You need spaces like this for folks who have nowhere else to go.”
Ostertag said the late Hank Wilson would’ve celebrated the renovations and what it would mean for the hotel’s residents. But Ostertag said the shy Wilson wouldn’t have appreciated the attention brought to his deeds. One might wonder what Wilson then would’ve thought of the new mural depicting his face — painted in the lobby as part of the renovations. For Ostertag, the image was fitting.
“Hank’s smile is still welcoming people to the Ambassador,” said Ostertag. “And that’s really a wonderful thing.”
