Vaillancourt Fountain

Vaillancourt Fountain, sometimes called Québec libre!, is a large fountain currently undergoing disassembly and removal at the Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco. It was designed by the Québécois artist Armand Vaillancourt in collaboration with the plaza's landscape architect, Lawrence Halprin, and completed in 1971. The fountain is constructed out of precast concrete square tubes. When fully installed, the fountain was about 40 feet (12 m) high. Long considered controversial because of its stark, modernist appearance, the fountain was the subject of several unsuccessful proposals to demolish it over the years. In October 2025, San Francisco determined the fountain to be a historic resource eligible for the California Register of Historical Resources. In November 2025, the San Francisco Arts Commission voted to approve an emergency disassembly and removal recommended by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, citing concerns about structural deterioration. Removal of the piece began in April 2026. Removal and storage for up to three years is estimated to cost $4.4 million.

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