The dismantling of a 55-year-old controversial fountain in San Francisco is beginning this week, much to the dismay of supporters of its 96-year-old sculptor from Quebec who tout the structure’s historical significance.
The first few pieces of Armand Vaillancourt’s fountain he designed and built are being labelled and taken apart following legal challenges and back-and-forths between the city and advocates who want the structure to stay.
Known officially as Québec Libre! or Vaillancourt Fountain, the infamous piece of art located in Embarcadero Plaza in the heart of the Californian city has drawn controversies over its appearance and inoperability over the past few years. It’s a prominent example of the brutalism design, using concrete, bold and unconventional shapes.
But after years of maintenance issues, Alexis Vaillancourt, Armand’s son, who has been helping lead his father’s campaign for the piece to remain standing, says he caught wind the structure could be demolished.
Citing corrosion and public safety risks, the city’s park’s department has instead moved forward with dismantling the piece and placing it in secure storage for up to three years.
Still, the fight is far from over for the Vaillancourt family — with the Friends of the Plaza, a newly formed coalition, filing an appeal last week on the decision allowing the dismantling to move forward.
“It’s a big part of his work in his life,” Alexis said of the fountain and his father’s legacy. “You know, he spent like four years in San Francisco in the late 60s building the fountain and it was quite a journey.
“I guess a part of himself … might be going today.”
The dismantling work started this week by removing grout and preparing for cranes, says Tamara Barak Aparton, spokesperson for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. The project is expected to take several months, she said.
The fountain is part of the civic arts collection, but the park’s department owns the plaza that it sits on. The plaza will soon be undergoing transformation as part of its own renovation project.
Barak Aparton said the sculpture as it stands contains hazardous materials, including asbestos and lead.
‘My life has been poisoned’: Quebec artist on demolition of his iconic fountain in San Francisco
The fountain has been inoperable since May 2024, when its last remaining pump failed, she said. In 2025, the city priced out various options of restoring the fountain — something that would have cost $29 million US to bring it up to current guidelines, she said.
She called the piece a significant public safety risk due to the fact that it’s structurally unstable, corroded and missing reinforcements — increasing its risk during an earthquake.
“And even though we have fences around it, those fences have been breached repeatedly for people sleeping inside the arms or climbing it. So it’s become a bit of an attractive nuisance,” she said.
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department used a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) emergency exemption to begin dismantling the fountain.
But Susan Brandt-Hawley, attorney for Friends of the Plaza group against the removal of the fountain, says an emergency exemption requires more than deteriorated conditions.
In a statement published on behalf of the group, she wrote that the exemption is “restricted to a ‘sudden, unexpected occurrence’ requiring ‘immediate action’ with no time for CEQA review.”
“Those are not present here,” she wrote. “There is no emergency.”
Brandt-Hawley wrote the city has said it can protect the fountain and public at a much lower cost than its current plan for disassembly and relocation — around $4 million US.
In a CBC interview in 2025, Armand Vaillancourt said the decision to dismantle his piece leaves a blemish on his legacy.
His son Alexis said the decision on the future of the sculpture once it’s placed in storage will be made by the San Francisco Arts Commission.
As an artist, painter and sculptor himself, he says pieces like his father’s are part of history.
The fountain has been featured in articles, books and movies. In 1987, U2 singer Bono spray painted the fountain following a free performance.
“It’s a relevant piece of art and it’s quite unique,” said Alexis.
“There’s something more romantic when you see something like that is from the past … It’s really rarely like a discussion about if it’s beautiful.”
