Pride Center San Antonio is getting a new permanent location north of downtown, just a few blocks away from city’s LGBT businesses and bars on North Main Avenue.
The 1,500 sq feet of space in the Methodist Professional Building will be home to the Pride Center, starting this spring. Pride Center San Antonio offer supports for members of the LGBT community, and also acts as a hub, offering access to counseling, mental health services, meetings spaces, parenting classes among other services through partner agencies.
Volunteer Executive Director Robert Salcido said its location will allow the organization to reach more people.
“We really never dreamed of being so close to the heart of the gay and lesbian community, where all of our LGBT brothers and sisters are,” he said.
The Pride Center had several other locations in its four years of operation. Some spaces were too small for walk-up appointments or reconstruction costs were too high. It currently operates an administrative office with the Bexar County Health Collaborative in a building on North St. Mary’s Street and support is provided by appointment only.
Salcido said the partnership with Methodist Healthcare System and low cost rent will allow the center to be sustainable.
Help in securing the space came from the office of District One Councilman Robert Trevino.
“My Chief of Staff Jay Podjenski really spearheaded the whole thing and we noticed there was some space and with that we began the negotiations and discussions of how we could make this work,” he said.
The space is under construction and is expected to be open before April.
“Being the seventh largest city in the country, for the community not to have a walk-in center has weighed heavily on us, so we’re excited this opportunity has presented itself an we’re excited to move forward in 2018,” Saldcido said.
The lease will last three years.
Joey Palacios can be reached at joey@tpr.org or on Twitter at @Joeycules
