In the most decisive move yet to remove the ungodly but marginally beloved Vaillancourt Fountain in Sue Bierman Plaza, the SF Rec and Parks Department has come right out and asked the city to tear that fugly fountain down.
The writing has been on the concrete tubes for more than a year that the Brutalist and currently fenced-off Vaillancourt Fountain next to the Embarcadero may be dismantled and removed. The massive, sculptural fountain was very conspicuously not included in the plans of a proposed $32 million renovation of Embarcadero Plaza that were released in July 2024. There have been some pleas to preserve the fountain over the years, even from the fountain’s 95-year-old sculptor Armand Vaillancourt, but the piece seems to have fewer and fewer supporters who want to see it stay. And, the cost of keeping it is reportedly prohibitive.
On Monday, the highest-profile City Hall figure yet openly called for the fountain to be torn down. The Chronicle reports that SF Rec and Parks Department manager Phil Ginsburg officially requested that Vaillancourt Fountain be removed in a letter to the SF Arts Commission.
Ginsburg’s request is not surprising, because other Rec and Parks officials already said they'd rather it be removed in previous public meetings. But this came from Phil Ginsburg, the boss at SF Rec and Parks, so it’s a pretty strong shot across the bow.
“We respectfully request the Arts Commission’s consideration and approval to proceed with the formal deaccession of the Vaillancourt Fountain from the Civic Art Collection and its removal from Embarcadero Plaza,” Ginsburg said in his letter to the Arts Commission. “This step is necessary to ensure public safety, uphold responsible stewardship of civic assets, and realize a reimagined Embarcadero Plaza that serves all San Franciscans.”
Regardless of whether you feel the fountain is monstrously ugly, this City Hall debate is being largely motivated by economics. The currently water-less fountain would cost $29 million to fix and make operable again, and the budget for the whole Embarcadero redesign is $32.5 million. Meanwhile, Rec and Parks estimates it will cost just $2.5 million to remove Vaillancourt Fountain.
It is not Phil Ginsburg or Rec and Parks’ decision on whether to remove the fountain. While Rec and Parks technically owns the Sue Bierman Park property, the Arts Commission owns the fountain itself, as a piece of civic artwork. So it is ultimately the decision of the SF Arts Commission on whether the fountain will stay up or be torn down.
That commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 5. But the SF Arts Commission said in a statement to SFist that the matter will be heard by the commission's Visual Arts Committee before going to the full SF Arts Commission.
Note: This post has been updated with a statement from the SF Arts Commission.
Image:San Francisco, United States - May 28, 2011: The Vaillancourt Fountain at Justin Herman Plaza, designed by Armand Vaillancourt in 1971. (Getty Images)
