In recent years, the sculpture has suffered from significant corrosion and deterioration, and has been inoperable as a fountain since May 2024. The department said the structure also contains hazardous materials such as asbestos and lead.
In October, Rec and Park declared it an imminent threat to public safety, and obtained emergency permission to remove it, bypassing the typical California Environmental Quality Act review needed to remove such a landmark. The San Francisco Arts Commission, which oversees the fountain as part of the city’s civic art collection, also approved the removal.
The Vaillancourt Fountain in the Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco on Sept. 8, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
A coalition of fountain supporters, including nonprofit groups Docomomo US/Northern California and the Cultural Landscape Foundation, along with skateboarders and some art fans, have tried a number of ways to halt the fountain’s removal, first asking the Board of Supervisors in January to require the environmental review process before disassembly can move forward, and later filing a legal complaint with the San Francisco Superior Court asking for the same.
Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ross denied their preliminary injunction, which would have temporarily halted the removal while the legal case plays out. The hearing date for the legal case is set for August, but following the preliminary ruling, the city attorney’s office said “There is nothing legal preventing the city from moving forward.”
Susan Brandt-Hawley, an attorney representing the fountain’s supporters, has said, though, that there is no emergency, and the city should leave the sculpture in place until the legal case concludes.