Haight-Fillmore Building

Haight-Fillmore Building. . On this site the Haight-Fillmore Building was built in 1886, and the DRUGS sign on the corner dates back to this time. This corner remained a drugstore until September 1977, when Thomas and Helen Lennihan, a stubborn Irish couple, finally hung up their white smocks and closed their Rexall Drugstore after 35 years. The building was then purchased by Chris George and Garth Galon, who restored it to what you see today. By that time, this neighborhood had degenerated into inner-city blight and was largely ignored by the City. This block of Haight Street, from Fillmore to Steiner, was the highest heroin trafficking block in the country., George and Galon gave Mayor Moscone notice that they were withholding their property taxes and placing the money in an escrow account, where it would remain until this neighborhood received basic city services, such as police protection. Mayor Moscone promised something would change within a couple of months, provided nothing were leaked to the press. Two months later to the day, November 2, 1977, police blocked off Haight Street at Fillmore and Steiner Streets and flushed everyone, including children, out of the buildings onto the sidewalks. 47 drug dealers, who had been photographed from the rooms above you openly dealing on the streets below with impunity, were arrested. Still, some 35 people named in the warrants had been missed., This was a very bold move on the Mayor's part, which resulted in this neighborhood's eventual recovery. On the opposite corner, HANK'S 500, which was a heroin dealer hangout, was closed down and a gay bar, named HENRIETTA'S, opened in its place. The building's new owner, the flamboyant Donald Lipper, was known for torching neighborhood crack houses, while driving a blue '57 Chevy station wagon with yellow and red flames painted down the sides. This corner became HAIGHT-FILLMORE WHOLE FOOD CO. in 1978. It was the brainchild of Harvey Reigle and Bob Guarino, who commissioned Carmen Banana - the mural that appears above this plaque. The other Whole Foods was blocked in their attempt to prevent HAIGHT FILLMORE WHOLE FOOD Co. from using the name, because this store predates theirs.