The Tragedy of the Gartland Apartments

Harrison and Alameda
Mission/SOMA

Mission Wall Dances is subtitled with a Robert Frost quote, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” 

During the 1970’s San Francisco’s Mission and SOMA areas were wracked by arson fires, many thought to be intentional.  A fire that has left a large scar on the mission was the Gartland Apartments Fire.

From a San Francisco Chronicle article of  September 14, 2002:

On the night of Dec. 12, (1975) somebody poured gasoline down the Gartland’s main stairwell and ignited it. The fire spread so quickly, so intensely that even veteran firefighters were stunned.

“I’ve never heard the type of anxiety in a radio transmission that I did that night,” said San Francisco Fire Capt. Elmer Carr, an arson inspector. “Usually, everybody sounds kind of steely on the radio, but people knew that we couldn’t get to everybody. It was a horrible night for us.”  Nobody was ever charged in connection with the blaze, Carr said.

The Fire Department’s report lists 14 dead, 15 firefighters injured and four residents burned. But Carr said, “There’s no way of telling how many people were in that building.

Within days the building was torn down and a hole, known as the Gartland Pit, remained for years afterwards. Continuing with the article…

(Victor) Miller wouldn’t let the issue die. First as a community organizer, and later as the editor of the neighborhood paper, (New Mission News) Miller wrote constantly about the neighborhood’s arson fires.

To keep the public’s focus on rebuilding there, Miller inspired others to reclaim the Pit. In 1983, he approached Plate and other artists and suggested they create performance art pieces there. For years, the Pit was an illegal showcase for murals, band gigs and poetry readings. Others created a mock graveyard.

Meanwhile, activists fought development proposals that they felt would change the neighborhood’s character — much as activists do today.

Finally, in 1987, after cooperation between the Mission Housing Development Corp. and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Development, ground was broken for low-income apartments on the site. Today, nearly two dozen families live there.

The mural was painted in 2002 by Josef Norris.  It was commissioned by Jo Kreiter of Fly Away Productions and was the backdrop for an aerial production honoring Victor Miller upon his death.

Dancing on the roof of the building and rappelling off its side was a small company of aerial dancers from San Francisco’s Flyaway Productions. During the free 35-minute productions “Wall Dances” traced the Gartland’s death and resurrection.  The dancers portrayed everything from lovers lost in the fire to classic Mission characters, like the women who sell flowers on the street. The ethereal soundtrack featured the voices of displaced Mission residents, explaining how they define “home.”
“It’s about how people deal with displacement,” said Flyaway founder Jo Kreiter. Flyaway co-produced the piece with the Mission-based Intersection for the Arts.

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