Opening next month, the Contemporary Jewish Museum is a dramatic addition to South-of-Market, and one of the last pieces of the City’s decades-long redevelopment of Yerba Buena.  The museum, which was designed by internationally-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, imaginatively incorporates reuse of the landmark Jessie Street Pacific Gas and Electric Company substation, which played a key role in restoring electricity to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Before a horizon composed of parked cargo ships and scattered tug-docks, members of the Mariposa Hunter’s Point Yacht Club members celebrated the 75th birthday of their club last month with tales of the southeastern seafront, camaraderie forged amongst sailing aficionados and dilettantes, and a poetry readings by the open waterfront.

The U.S. Navy and City and County of San Francisco have purged more than environmental toxins from the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, which was contaminated with radioactive wastes.  In addition to the unwelcome pollution, a number of long-term tenants, including various artists, have been evicted from the shipyard.  Some have nowhere else to go.

“It’s sad but true that in the Bay Area you’re generally in an extremely diverse part of the country – except when you’re in a big theater,” Tony Kelly of Thick Description observed recently. Luckily Kelly’s lament doesn’t hold true for the small companies and theatre venues located in Southeast San Francisco, particularly Potrero Hill. Here first-rate theater and cultural diversity go hand-in-hand.