History
The Bike Hut was constructed on-site from mostly reclaimed materials in 1996. Designed as a bicycle kiosk, a place was made for it on Pier 40 as compensation for the removal of our program from the space now occupied by Carmen's restaurant. At this time the Bike Hut was one of three sites operated by the Bicycle Community Project, whose fiscal sponsor was the Tides Center. Charles Higgins was project director at the time, and in 1998 he signed an agreement with Pedal Revolution to operate the Bike Hut for the summer season. At the last moment they withdrew from their contract and Victor Veysey became the volunteer manager for the summer, balancing weekends at the Bike Hut with restaurant work during the week.
Our first apprentice placement was Kendrick Mitchell of Hunters Point, whose was paid by the Delancey Street Foundation's Juvenile Justice Program to study bicycle mechanics and customer service. South Beach kids began coming in steady numbers during the winter of '98/'99, enticed by another apprentice, the outgoing Titus Domenique, who spent many hours at the Hut under a placement from Compass Community Services. Local South Beach youth began visiting regularly, enticing other relatives and friends to come by. Ranging in age from 14 to 9, D'ercey Smith, TJ Thomas, Terry Thomas, and Gregory Thomas became the first local family to make constant use of the Bike Hut. Chris Buchanan was volunteering during this period, giving the kids an outsider besides myself to interact with and starting a long tradition of having bike messengers helping out at the Bike Hut.
1999 the Bike Hut managed to keep providing more services, including five placements from the Private Industry Council's Schools to Careers program, while also becoming a vibrant community youth space. Often we would have up to a dozen kids of varying ages involved in various activities, including riding, mentoring, and interaction with customers and visitors. Often this social activity overtook economic activity, but the program was vibrant and exciting. The many hours spent by Jan Neal, a former professional bike racer, reaching out to kids and working at the shop, helped to make a real impact.
In January of 2000, BCP gained a new project director, Robert Ping, who replace Charles Higgins. Robert Ping changed the name of the project to Pedal Power.
A grant from the Department of Environment paid for the production of a business plan including designs for bike trailers, jewelry, and furnishings. Prototypes produced were quickly sold, but implementation of plan requires greater space and resources than available.
During 2000 and 2001 we continued to develop strong program, with both paid and unpaid placements of youth. Many stem from the original contacts created with the Thomas family. Participant youth come from all a great diversity of areas of San Francisco. We also serve youth who come from Oakland, Richmond, Orinda, and other Bay Areas, as well as the occasional out of state or international visitor.
The collapse of Pedal Power as an entity in 2002 created a crisis. Fortunately the fiscal sponsor of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Transportation for a Liveable City (TLC) has agreed to hold the lease on the Bike Hut. The Bike Hut is not part of the Coalition, but does serve as an outreach point for them, including selling memberships and hosting events.
In cooperation with the San Francisco Bicycle coalition the Bike Hut staffs a bicycle parking facility at the local ballpark. This continues to employ youth and develop an important work skill set.
Over the course of five years hundreds of kids have received training in mechanics, business, customer service. We have also mentored, taken kids on rides, given away helmets, and generally pumped out as much love as possible. Most of this work has been accomplished on the slim income of the shop, and finding future grant underwriting is a priority.
In 2003 Bike Hut is fortunate to once again have eminent volunteer Ted Thomas, who established the original program that became the Bike Hut. We also have a volunteer Volunteer Coordinator, Mattius, and a great set of mechanical volunteers, including Kemen, Thom, and Jessie, all of whom have some interest in starting their own programs. We look forward to expanding and improving what we do over the course of the summer, starting with fixing the roof and planning for a new site in South Beach.
