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FILE: An aerial view of\u00a0Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco on April 10, 2025.<\/p>\n
Anadolu\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department announced it is preparing to disassemble the Vaillancourt Fountain<\/a> along Embarcadero Plaza on Monday, following a lengthy saga<\/a> surrounding its preservation<\/a> and importance in the city\u2019s history. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported<\/a> the news. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)<\/p>\n Contractors began installing more fencing around the 710-ton fountain this week as photographers took detailed snapshots of the brutalist structure, department spokesperson Tamara Barak Aparton\u00a0told SFGATE in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Notably, the announcement comes nearly a week before the department was slated to host its third meeting soliciting feedback from the community on the $32.5 million transformation of the plaza and Sue Bierman Park. However, Barak Aparton told SFGATE the disassembly of the concrete sculpture is \u201ca separate thing.\u201d She said the department\u2019s decision to expedite the fountain\u2019s removal is over \u201csignificant public safety risks caused by its deterioration, including structural instability, widespread corrosion, and missing reinforcement, which weaken the structure and increase the risk of failure during an earthquake.\u201d<\/p>\n Specifically, one of the structure\u2019s 10-ton cantilevered arms is resting on another arm \u2014 \u201csomething it was not designed to do,\u201d Barak\u00a0Aparton said \u2014 leading to discernible stress cracks in the concrete. She reiterated the department\u2019s previous findings that the historic structure contains hazardous materials such as asbestos and lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n It \u201chas become an \u2018attractive nuisance\u2019 due to unauthorized climbing,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n FILE: People play on padel courts\u00a0next to the Vaillancourt Fountain on\u00a0Feb. 13, 2024.<\/p>\n Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n The $4 million removal paid for by the parks department, which maintains the fountain for the San Francisco Arts Commission, is expected to take several months. On Monday, workers are set to begin labeling and cataloging each piece of the concrete sculpture for disassembly, a process that will take at least a week. By next month, a crane will remove parts of the structure arm by arm, and a flatbed truck will haul the pieces away to an off-site storage facility, which has not yet been determined by the department.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make SFGATE a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n During the project, the immediate area surrounding the fountain will be inaccessible, though the rest of the plaza will remain open, including the padel courts and walking path leading to Sue Bierman Park, Barak Aparton told SFGATE.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPark rangers will provide security and assistance in the area,\u201d she said. \u201cConstruction fencing will be adjusted as needed to accommodate scheduled public events at Embarcadero Plaza and continue to ensure public safety.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The fountain designed by Armand Vaillancourt has become a hotly contested landmark since its 1972 construction. Reviled by some art critics and renowned by others as a unique facet of the city\u2019s history and a storied skate spot, it has been inoperable since May 2024 after its last remaining pump failed.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Several months later, in July, city officials announced plans to renovate the plaza with the construction of a new waterfront park more than twice the size of Union Square<\/a>. Renderings showed 5 acres of vast greenery replacing the existing concrete expanse and pathways leading to food trucks and sculpture gardens strewn with fairy lights in a bid to draw people downtown. Notably, the fountain was absent from the drawings, prompting the now-96-year-old artist to make the six-hour flight from Montreal to San Francisco last May to make a bid for its preservation. A legion of supporters described<\/a> it as \u201ca piece of San Francisco\u2019s cultural identity\u201d and \u201ca true icon of civic space.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But in January, the Board of Supervisors approved a motion to remove the fountain after the SF Recreation and Park Department deemed it a \u201cpublic safety hazard.\u201d In response, the preservationist group Friends of the Plaza sued, challenging the environmental review process, but a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the removal was denied by a San Francisco Superior Court judge earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n FILE: Sculptor Armand Vaillancourt created the fountain along the San Francisco Embarcadero, near the Ferry Building, in 1971.<\/p>\n Dick Darrell\/Toronto Star via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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