07/22/2026
โข ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฆ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐.
In 1980, after 4 years at their first home on Kater Street, the Gay Community Center of Philadelphia began looking for a new space in Center City. The Kater Street rent had been raised too high and it wasnโt possible to raise enough money to buy the building.
After a long fund raising campaign called "We're Moving Up," the Center rented space in the Lincoln Apartments at 222 Camac St. at the SW corner of Locust St., a building that had been home to the old Seamenโs Institute. It took approximately $9,000 worth of repairs and many volunteer hours to make the location ready, but the grand opening was held on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1981. It was in 1982, while the Center was at 222 S Camac that the Philadelphia Gay Rights Bill was passed. At the same time, the Centerโs administration was reorganized from the old two committee system to a new Board of Directors, co-chaired by John Cunningham and Laurie Barron.
In 1983, what had happened at the Kater St. location happened again. The enormous amount of work they did to make improvements to their rented space only earned the volunteers at the Center a 100% rent increase. Center co-chair Paty Yager stated that they had talked the owner down from a triple rent increase.
With the help of community donations, the Center stayed open as long as it could. Eventually, however, the board decided that continually trying to raise money in the community was taking away from funds desperately needed to combat the devastating new AIDS crisis, which neither the Federal government nor the city was doing much about.
In December 1983, 222 Camac closed and "Penguin Place, the Community Center without Walls" was born soon after.
