I-Beam (nightclub)
The I-Beam was a former popular nightclub and live music venue active from 1977 to 1994, and located in the Park Masonic Hall building on the second floor at 1748 Haight Street in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. The I-Beam served as one of San Francisco's earliest disco clubs, as well as serving as a "gay refuge". History Before opening the club, Sanford Kellman had an impromptu party there and found that all the neighbors complained about the noise. Therefore, Sanford Kellman was required by the city government of San Francisco to soundproof the entire building at great expense, delaying the opening of the club for several months. The I-Beam began as a seven-night-a-week club, opening on October 20, 1977. On the opening night of the club, groups of bare-chested men in jeans and construction hats carried I-Beams on their shoulders into the club. It originated as a gay disco run by Sanford Kellman, a former astronomer. The club was named after Sanford Kellman's dog, "Beamer". Throughout the 1980s, the club served as a top outlet in the city for "imported modern rock". As the crowd left the I-Beam for the newer clubs South of Market such as the