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'Its fate may be sealed': San Francisco votes to remove hotly contested landmark

The Vaillancourt Fountain could be dismantled in as soon as 90 days

By Amanda Bartlett, Assistant Local EditorNov 4, 2025

The San Francisco Arts Commission voted 8-5 in approval of temporarily dismantling the Vaillancourt Fountain on Monday afternoon after an “emergency” removal was called for by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. It’s the latest in the saga over whether the infamous brutalist landmark should remain at its longtime home on the Embarcadero or be replaced in the name of a brand new park. 

Built in 1971 by sculptor Armand Vaillancourt, the snake-like structure has been disparaged by critics, served as the backdrop of a surprise 1987 U2 concert, and is considered by supporters to be a cornerstone of the city’s history steeped in skate culture. Its fate first came into question in July of 2024, when plans were announced for the $32.5 million transformation of the plaza along the waterfront that would merge it with the existing Sue Bierman Park. The concrete work of art was absent from those renderings — much to the chagrin of its artist, who flew from Vancouver to make a plea for its preservation — but has also been dry and deteriorating for more than a year.
Discussion of its future was the hot topic at Monday’s meeting of SFAC, which owns the 710-ton fountain, while the parks department is responsible for overseeing it and managing its upkeep. During the meeting, Rec and Park project manager Eoanna Goodwin requested approval to remove the fountain due to “immediate health and safety hazards,” calling it an “emergency measure to protect public safety.” 
FILE: People play on padel courts at Park Padel next to the Vaillancourt Fountain with the San Francisco Ferry Building in the background in San Francisco on Feb. 13, 2024.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Despite the fountain being fenced off earlier this summer, Goodwin said the barriers and mesh screens cordoning it off from the public have been “repeatedly breached,” and that “individuals continue to enter the fenced-off area and even sleep within the concrete tubes,” where a mattress was also found. In response, the department planned to implement taller fencing — something Goodwin didn’t consider “a sustainable long-term solution,” citing the thousands of people that pass by the fountain every day, including during a recent protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She named a laundry list of problems plaguing the landmark, from corrosion of its internal steel to the asbestos and lead-based paint within the structure and the unconsolidated bay mud it stands on. 
Instead of paying an estimated $29 million for its full restoration — funding Goodwin said the department does not have — she pitched that they disassemble the fountain and move it to an offsite storage facility for $4.4 million. 
The arts commission was conflicted. 
Commissioner Debra Walker said the fountain “does exemplify the power of public art,” but “it can’t stay here, in my opinion, in this condition.”
Meanwhile, Commissioner Patrick Carney said his “fear is that once it’s removed, it opens the door to never coming back. It may go from temporary removal to permanent removal … its fate may be sealed.”
FILE: Sculptor Armand Vaillancourt created the fountain along the San Francisco Embarcadero, near the Ferry Building, in 1971. 
Dick Darrell/Toronto Star via Getty Images
Several people spoke during public comment, including the artist Vaillancourt’s granddaughter, who recounted “cherished memories” playing there as a kid and the “curiosity and pride that sparked” in her, noting she is now a student studying mechanical engineering.  
Cord Struckmann, an architect and resident of Upper Market, as well as a board member of Docomomo, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving sites of the Modern Movement, accused the park department of “falsely portraying the conditions and activities around the fountain as a recent development” — information that was echoed in an article shared with SFGATE by the Cultural Landscape Foundation. The organization alleged the commission and Rec and Park had failed to properly maintain the artwork for years.
On Tuesday morning, Rec and Park spokesperson Tamara Aparton reiterated in an email to SFGATE the structure’s “risk of collapse.” Following the vote, the fountain’s removal could happen in as soon as 90 days, per the California Art Preservation Act, which allows artists to protect their work from being altered or destroyed. She anticipated the process of disassembly would take approximately two months, after which experts will inspect and assess the fountain’s interior and store it for up to three years in a yet-to-be determined location. Then, they’ll consider options for its future — including whether it will be restored, repaired, relocated or repurposed. 


FILE: Vaillancourt Fountain, created in1971, is seen with the Ferry Building in the background. 
De Agostini via Getty Images
“The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department welcomes the Arts Commission’s decision to approve the disassembly and safe storage of the Vaillancourt Fountain,” Aparton wrote in an emailed statement. “This action addresses urgent public safety hazards identified by independent engineers and confirmed by the Department of Building Inspection. It will remove the immediate risk.”
The department said it will install new, higher fences around the fountain starting next week. 

I saw Vallancourt at U2's Joshua Tree concert, vandalizing their set.