The Embarcadero has always been a great part of San Francisco (ever since the earthquake took down the divisive freeway in ’89): a way to connect with the waterfront through a pleasant promenade, catch a vintage trolley, board a ferry at the beautiful Ferry Building (and enjoy tons of great dining and coffee inside), see the magnificent span of the Bay Bridge and enjoy the bustle of street vendors.
Now there are plans to glow up the plaza, as reported by SF Gate, which we’re all in favor of—except that we adore the Brutalist Vaillancourt Fountain, which faces extinction as the plans currently appear.
What’s great about the plans?
Renderings—which you can see at the top of this story—show a very attractive span of grassy areas linked by sinuous pathways. There’s a fenced-in dog park, several new sculptures and lots of lavender bushes to sustainably bloom and provide color. This park would basically unite three already existing spaces: Embarcadero Plaza, South Embarcadero and Sue Bierman Park. The only drawback is that, as far as we can tell from the renderings, we’re missing that iconic Vaillancourt Fountain. Where it currently sits, we see instead a few volleyball courts. Sure, replace an iconic piece of art with some sticks with netting stretched between them.
What’s great about the fountain?
It’s a freaking masterpiece of square pipes, like Dr. Seuss and a dystopian plumber went on a bender. It was designed by Armand J. R. Vaillancourt and sometimes called Québec libre!, since that’s what Vaillancourt wrote on it with red paint the night before its 1971 unveiling. (Gotta love an artist who tags his own work!) And rock historians would want to know that U2 also tagged it; during a free concert in 1987, Bono climbed on it to write, “Rock N Roll Stops Traffic,” which is so cute and dated we can hardly stand it.
This thing stands 40 feet high, stretches 200 feet long and 140 feet wide and provides ample pleasure to passersby. You can climb around on it to various platforms and listen to the relaxing flow of water (which is sometimes dyed blue to make it more luscious) that evacuates from several of the cast concrete tubes.
Who doesn’t love the fountain?
Well, San Francisco’s beloved artist Ruth Asawa tried to block it at the design stage, calling it something that would be “unleashed on the unsuspecting people of this city.” But we prefer the perspective of Sea Ranch landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, who said that if it didn’t turn out to be one of the nation’s great works of civic art, he would slit his own throat. So we owe it to his memory to keep it.
Where did the park plans come from?
They emerged from a partnership between the city and workplace developer BXP, which owns Embarcadero Center (the renderings are from design and planning firm HOK, which sounds like in another reality it could be an Outside Lands band).
Does the plaza need a redo?
For sure! It’d be great to have a destination here for wandering and picnicking. At night, it’d be a great live music and festival spot (the nighttime rendering shows fairy lights, encircled food trucks and glowing vendor tents, all very magical).
Everybody wants healthy foot traffic and economic growth, and the hope is that the new park could host large-scale events like viewing parties for the Super Bowl or World Cup games. But we feel certain that the new park could encompass all that and keep the Vaillancourt Fountain. After all, U2 played here at the height of their popularity! People love to walk on it, it’s Instagrammable and it’s an unusual piece of art that’s been in place for more than 50 years. If we tear it down, the future will be super pissed.
What happens next?
Funds for the park project need to be raised from a mix of public and private sources—once the money’s in hand, “we’re going to step on the gas,” San Francisco Recreation and Park Department General Manager Phil Ginsburg told SF Gate.
