Post by Jonel on Mar 15, 2004 13:34:01 GMT -5
A last supper
Powell's Place to close after 31 years.
By Alison Soltau
Staff Writer
asoltau@examiner.com
Published on Friday, March 12, 2004
Members of Motown super group the Temptations were enjoying a pork-chop-and-oxtail lunch at soul food restaurant Powell's Place on Monday, giving owner Emmit Powell a bit of sunshine on his otherwise cloudy day.
The famed gospel singer and restaurateur told his favorite Detroit customers that he was being edged out of his Hayes Valley premises of 31 years by a dramatic leap in rent, from $2,800 to $7,350 a month.
"They were upset that I had to move, but they said, 'Wherever you go, we'll be coming,'" Powell recalled.
And with that, a bit of history and a whole lot of soul walked right out of Hayes Valley.
Powell's Place, the last remaining business signifying a very different time in Hayes Valley's history, will shut its doors on April 15, as gentrification brings its benefits and downsides to a neighborhood and locals debate the district's future direction.
"I'm the last African American in this area now. I've been an institution, known all over the world," Powell said wistfully.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson stopped by the Hayes St restaurant for fried chicken the other day and asked what he could do to help. Chicago Bulls star forward Scotty Pippin came in for one last fish sandwich.
"I told them, 'Well, there's nothing you can do, it's all legal,'" said Powell, adding that he is in negotiations to move to the cheaper Fillmore Center.
The owner of the property, Richard Frazier, could not be reached for a full comment on the situation.
But Frazier said in a voicemail message that he thought Powell was moving because he had managed to negotiate a more competitive lease elsewhere.
Courtesy of the San Franciso Examiner online
www.sfexaminer.com/article/index.cfm/i/031204n_powells
Powell's Place to close after 31 years.
By Alison Soltau
Staff Writer
asoltau@examiner.com
Published on Friday, March 12, 2004
Members of Motown super group the Temptations were enjoying a pork-chop-and-oxtail lunch at soul food restaurant Powell's Place on Monday, giving owner Emmit Powell a bit of sunshine on his otherwise cloudy day.
The famed gospel singer and restaurateur told his favorite Detroit customers that he was being edged out of his Hayes Valley premises of 31 years by a dramatic leap in rent, from $2,800 to $7,350 a month.
"They were upset that I had to move, but they said, 'Wherever you go, we'll be coming,'" Powell recalled.
And with that, a bit of history and a whole lot of soul walked right out of Hayes Valley.
Powell's Place, the last remaining business signifying a very different time in Hayes Valley's history, will shut its doors on April 15, as gentrification brings its benefits and downsides to a neighborhood and locals debate the district's future direction.
"I'm the last African American in this area now. I've been an institution, known all over the world," Powell said wistfully.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson stopped by the Hayes St restaurant for fried chicken the other day and asked what he could do to help. Chicago Bulls star forward Scotty Pippin came in for one last fish sandwich.
"I told them, 'Well, there's nothing you can do, it's all legal,'" said Powell, adding that he is in negotiations to move to the cheaper Fillmore Center.
The owner of the property, Richard Frazier, could not be reached for a full comment on the situation.
But Frazier said in a voicemail message that he thought Powell was moving because he had managed to negotiate a more competitive lease elsewhere.
Courtesy of the San Franciso Examiner online
www.sfexaminer.com/article/index.cfm/i/031204n_powells