San Francisco’s legendary drag club Oasis, slated for closure at the end of this year, has been saved by a multimillion-dollar donation, club owner D’Arcy Drollinger told the Chronicle in an exclusive interview. 

Now, what was planned to be a final bow on New Year’s Eve for the beloved LGBTQ venue will instead celebrate a “big new chapter.”

“I am humbled that this is happening at this late stage,” Drollinger said of the infusion of money, which was secured just days ago. “It’s a Christmas miracle moment that I only dreamed could happen.” 

The funds will now allow Drollinger’s nonprofit organization Oasis Arts to buy the club’s building at 298 11th St., a move that would eliminate rent and help make Oasis financially sustainable over the long term. 

The amount of the gift has not been disclosed. Drollinger was able to share, however, that the gift comes from Bay Area philanthropists Mary and Mark Stevens, whose son Sky Stevens is a frequent patron.

“In just more than a decade, Oasis has become a leader in creating new art that connects and entertains, and has become a safe space for our LGBTQ+ community in times when we’ve needed it most. It is a cultural institution that has provided me, and countless others, immense joy,” Sky Stevens said in a statement on behalf of the Stevens family. “My family and I are excited to see what this next era of Oasis brings to San Francisco.”

Earlier this month, Drollinger was invited to send the family information about Oasis Arts’ community impact, the reach of performances at the club and the audiences that benefit from Oasis’ role as a queer cultural space. He then met with Mary, Mark and Sky on Zoom to further discuss the nonprofit’s work in greater detail. The building owner’s willingness to sell helped reassure the donors that Oasis was a viable candidate for such a large donation, according Drollinger. 

Drollinger said he was coincidentally approached by Sky Stevens on the day he had set as a deadline for himself to begin scheduling the clearance of the club. 

“Our community’s life changed on a dime,” said Drollinger of the financial lifeline, adding that his performers who have been busy preparing a farewell show for Oasis are now suddenly having to rewrite their script. 

“Oasis has been a beacon of hope for so many, and this has reminded me to leave room for things to work out.”

In August, Drollinger — who was also the city’s first ever Drag Laureate from 2023 to this November — announced that the 11-year-old club in the South of Market neighborhood would be closing because of economic unsustainability. Drollinger cited rising operating cost, diminished bar sales and debt lingering from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns as reasons for the decision, noting that he had tapped out his life savings to keep Oasis operating. 

Now, while the club will still close on Thursday, Jan. 1, Drollinger said it will only do so for a period of hibernation while the building undergoes renovations and the Oasis Arts organization and club restructure their operations. 

Moving forward, Oasis will be run more explicitly as an arts organization rather than primarily as a nightclub, Drollinger said. Investor Greg Sottolano will take a more active role in running the business side of the club, while Drollinger will continue to run the creative side of Oasis Arts, with the club serving as its primary venue. 

A central goal of these changes will be to emphasize Oasis’ role as a community cultural asset, demonstrating that it offers more than just its bar and nightlife. 

“Yes, we serve drinks and have DJs, but we’re really an arts venue,” said Drollinger. “A restructuring with that in mind will help Oasis Arts come back in a better, more sustainable way.” 

Since 2020, Drollinger has pivoted frequently — in sky-high heels — to keep Oasis operating. When the pandemic forced the club to shut down, he transformed the main room into a kitchen for the socially distanced Meals on Heels drag delivery service. He also launched the subscription Oasis TV streaming site, airing both previously filmed performances and new content. 

As restrictions eased, Oasis was among the venues to open for outdoor service on the sidewalk and roof-deck. Drollinger also hosted two telethons to raise emergency funds for the club, in 2022 and earlier this year, eventually transitioning management of shows at the venue to Oasis Arts. 

“This is easily the club’s third life,” said Drollinger. “There was the original opening, the shutdown and COVID, and now this new opportunity.”

Oasis opened Dec. 31, 2014, with owners Drollinger, the late San Francisco drag legend Heklina, Geoff Benjamin and Jason Beebout. Drollinger saw Oasis as a space that could exist in the spirit of the queer performance venue Josie’s Cabaret and Juice Joint in the Castro, which closed in 1999. Theatrical productions became central to Oasis’ identity as well as early club nights like Heklina’s “Mother.”

Over the years, the club developed a reputation for high-production values on its stage shows, which ranged from original plays by Drollinger to parodies of pop culture favorites like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the “Scream” films. 

By 2020, Drollinger became sole owner of the club. 

Starting in the new year, Drollinger said Oasis will close for at least six months for improvements to the roof and to address the many “quirks” of the building, which previously housed a diving school, a bathhouse and a parade of night clubs. He hopes Oasis can be open again by the summer.

Meanwhile, Drollinger said that Oasis Arts plans to launch a fundraising campaign to help cover further improvements to the space. 

Oasis Arts had also been in the process of making a documentary with filmmaker Matt Nixon for the past three months about the club’s closing. It now has a different ending.

“I had grieved, there were many tears. Now, we’re rising from the dead,” said Drollinger. “It feels perfect that it’s happening at this time when 11 years ago we were struggling to open the club. It’s somehow fitting.”