Unsurprising Development

The water has been shut off over a year (SFGate)

In August we commented on the City's decision to remove the Vaillancourt Fountain as part of a 5-acre development plan. As is true of every highly visible construction project in Northern California, legal methods have been employed to halt the fountain's removal.

Armand Vaillancourt, the 96-year-old artist behind the brutalist fountain in Embarcadero Plaza, tapped a lawyer to write the letter, asking the city on August 29 to “immediately cease and desist from taking any steps whatsoever that may endanger or damage the Vaillancourt Fountain.”

...If the city ignores Vaillancourt’s warning and request for the city to hand over all documents related to the fountain’s future and keep the artist in the loop on ongoing conversations, Vaillancourt and six “long-standing” architectural and cultural organizations are prepared to take legal action, according to the letter.

We have seen this play before: opposition to the removal of an old building or public work of art has not furnished a plan to pay for the repair and upkeep of the object being eliminated. In Vaillancourt's case the repair is estimated to cost $29 million. One easily foreseeable result is that nothing happens while the property deteriorates. If San Francisco avoids this outcome, it will be a good sign that it's back.