Okay, okay – I had to write that headline. And, no, I am not talking about sketchy public coitus by the 16th Street BART. I’m talking, of course, about the old armory. Now the headquarters of Kink.com. Well, the Wall Street Journal finally caught wind of this illustrious porn haven and decided to pay them a visit. Ben Worthen reports that owner Peter Acworth now plans to turn part of the building into a community center.

He goes on to write that:

“The planned armory center would bring to the Mission an event space on par with Fort Mason Center in the Marina district, where the largest pavilion is 50,000 square feet and holds 5,000 people. The project is viable largely because the armory is divided into two parts: an administrative building, where Kink.com is based, and a 38,000-square-foot “drill court” with a five-story-high roof that the military once used for troop exercises. Under the community-center plan, the drill court could host farmers’ markets, youth sports and community events.

Mr. Acworth says the drill court is now “a large, unnecessary parking lot,” and that “it would be nice to use the space for events that are valued by the community.” He says he will find someone new to run the center group, which is a separate entity from Kink.com, adding that the space for the center won’t be used by Kink.com.”

This could either be a really progressive idea or just a really bad plan all around. So far though, no one’s throwing up a fuss. Blue Bottle Coffee plans a cart in Dolores Park and there’s a NIMBY out-roar while another business owner plans to open a for-profit event space in a S&M porn production studio and there is nary a titter. You gotta love SF.

For the full story, go here.

Photo credit: sfarmory.com

• Tag: armory, community, construction, Kink.com, mission