When House of Brakes, 3195 24th St., closed last year after owners sold the property, many at the Mission wondered about the fate of the low-rise building at the corner of 24th and South Van Ness — and the future of a historic mural the property and a newer mural on an east wall overlooking the driveway.
Only construction is allowed in San Francisco. This could mean trouble for the towering Carnaval and Chata murals on the walls of neighboring buildings. The House of Brakes, which has been in business since 1968 and was run by Daniel Borg until his lease expired in November 2022, is only one story and set back on its property so the corner can be surrounded by art.
The 2010 South Mission Historic Survey found that the property was deemed “unsuitable” for listing as a historic building. It was a blow to some in the community as many love its short stature and, perhaps more importantly, the property in front has been used by the community for rallies, concerts and traditional Danza Azteca ceremonies for years.
Locals fear the site and adjacent murals may be lost. The Carnaval mural was completed in 1983 by artist Daniel Galvéz with funding from the San Francisco Arts Commission and renovated in 2014. The lively, lifelike dancers and musicians in the multi-story mural were drawn from actual photographs of the city’s first Carnaval celebration in 1979.
“It’s a special corner that welcomes people who come to the mission,” said Carlos “Kookie” Gonzalez, the artist behind the 2015 La Chata mural entitled “La Rumba No Para” on the east wall of South Van Ness . Micaela “Chata” Gutierrez was an activist and popular KPOO DJ who hosted a Latin music show called “Con Clave”.
“Over the weekend, people had their pop-up tents and dancers and videos in the parking lot,” he said. “This corner has seen a lot of changes.”
Gonzalez knows all about change: Another mural of his, “Y Tu Y Yo Y Cesar,” at 24th and York Streets, along with the building it stood on, was demolished in 2020 to make way for new apartments .
The new owner of House of Brakes, local mechanic Noe Flores, bought the building last August for $1,395,000 from the Howes family, who owned it for several generations. Flores has no plans to make any changes.
“It will continue to be a mechanic’s shop,” said Flores, who founded Avenue Body Shop at 333 South Van Ness in 1995. He looks forward to bringing another business to the neighborhood. He says the city wants to get business out of the central areas, so more mechanical work is needed in the mission.
Flores and Borg are good friends. “We met when he was 18 and I was 20 when I came here from El Salvador. Last year he called me and said, ‘Hey, the house is for sale.’ I said, “Let’s buy it together. Everyone knows you, everyone knows this corner.” But he’s done.”
Too bad, said Noe, who recently turned 68. He was hoping to do business with his old friend.
Right now, workers are picking up the concrete and replacing the plumbing at the property, which Flores says hasn’t been updated since the building was constructed in 1960. After installing a sliding gate and replacing the store’s windows, Flores is considering having Precita Eyes paint the outside to prevent graffiti.
However, since the building is not a listed building, the murals are still vulnerable to the effects of development. To ensure its future, Supervisor Hillary Ronen presented safeguards for the Carnaval mural to the board on March 21.
It is now in the hands of the Historic Preservation Commission to grant landmark status to the mural, which would mean that any future development near the site would need to maintain its current visibility from the road.
The mural “has incredible historical and cultural significance,” said Supervisor Ronen’s assistant, Santiago Lerma. “We’ve made it our mission to preserve history.”
