Sign for a dedicated skateboard area in the new Embarcadero Plaza design!

In 2026, BXP, the company who owns the Embarcadero Center, and SF Parks & Recreation, the city org that runs Embarcadero Plaza, will break ground on a new plaza at the foot of Market Street. One of the stated goals of this public/private partnership, which will likely cost up to $50M, is to create an iconic, world-class park that honors San Francisco’s history on the waterfront.

For skateboarders, the Embarcadero Plaza, formerly Justin Herman Plaza, has been just that for the last five decades. Redesigning the plaza without skateboarding in mind, and completely destroying the last vestiges of the most famous skate-spot in the world, will be erasing a vital part of skateboarding's history, not just in San Francisco, but worldwide.

By signing this petition, you will be letting the City of San Francisco and BXP know that any new designs for the park must acknowledge the plaza’s history as a world-famous skate spot, one that has changed the face of global skateboarding and remains one of the most profoundly influential places to skate in the world. Additionally, we insist that the act of skateboarding be permitted and preserved at this new Embarcadero Plaza.

Stated goals:

• ·To consult with the design firm to ensure that part of the old plaza is preserved in the new design
  • This part should include the concrete perimeter of the Vaillancourt Fountain, part of the original design by famed landscape architect Lawrence Halprin (1916-2009)
• In addition, we request that some of the original brick surface also be preserved in the new design
• Most importantly, that the central place of skateboarding and it’s history not only be acknowledged, in some form of historical plaque or substantial fragmented element from the 1971 Plaza, but also that skateable surfaces and obstacles be incorporated in the design and uses of the new plaza.