“If you look at the model of what happened to the city and the country after the Spanish flu…all of a sudden there was a bounceback in the Roaring Twenties,” Rowe said. Covid-era restrictions on indoor gatherings spurred him to begin searching for a new space in earnest. Outside of providing clean and sex-positive spaces, the organization also operated a number of community-serving spaces like an art gallery, community classroom and a massage room.īut after the business’ longtime landlord died and his family sold the property to a new owner, Eros CEO and co-owner Ken Rowe said the writing was on the wall. If you look up San Francisco’s directory of legacy businesses-a city certification meant to celebrate and support longstanding neighborhood institutions-the very first entry on the list is Eros.Ī venue for sexual exploration and safe-sex education tailored to the city’s gay community, it originally opened in the Castro in 1992.
