The San Francisco Arts Commission on Monday evening conditionally approved plans for the redesigned waterfront park facing the Ferry Building, on the condition that it meets again to discuss the fate of the monument, KQED reported. The current plans propose removing the steel-and-onyx installation, which is 8 feet high and 40 feet long and has been at the site since 2008.
What the monument honors
According to KQED, the monument honors the several hundred Bay Area residents among the 2,800 Americans who joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight Francisco Franco's Nationalists in the 1930s. About 800 Brigade members were killed. Supporters say the waterfront location is deliberate: it was the site of the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike, and some strikers later volunteered in Spain. The piece was designed by Oakland artist Walter Hood and San Francisco artist and educator Ann Chamberlain and was rehabilitated in 2020.
“That monument is the most important monument in San Francisco,” Megan Bierman, the daughter of former Supervisor Sue Bierman, told the commission. John Gruntfest, who said he is the son of people who fought in the war, also urged the city to keep it. Some speakers, including artists, nearby residents and developer BXP, spoke in favor of the overall project.
The new park
San Francisco Recreation and Park's project page describes a roughly 5-acre space to be called Embarcadero Park, with areas named Art Agnos Plaza and Sue Bierman Commons. Features include a lawn, a stage and a dog play area. The department lists about $2 million from the Downtown SF Partnership, and BXP is contributing about $2.5 million in services plus about $3 million for restrooms. KQED reported that the design firm is HOK, construction is expected to begin in December 2026, and completion is targeted for the end of 2027.
The plaza's former centerpiece is already gone; see our story on the Vaillancourt Fountain removal.