"Behind Barrow on the plaza stand two massive cubes, carpeted with astroturf and surrounded with high plexiglass walls - temporary installations where, for a minimum entry fee of $30, visitors can play padel, a racquet-based sport that touts itself as "easy to pick up like pickleball, dynamic like squash, and athletic like tennis." Barrow ends the tour on an urgent, if solemn note: now that plans are well underway to redevelop this plaza, San Francisco risks losing a part of its history."
"The city has partnered with BXP (formerly Boston Properties, whose portfolio includes Embarcadero Center and Salesforce Tower) to redevelop Embarcadero Plaza and the adjacentSue Bierman park. The only thing left unchanged will be a children's playground far from the plaza itself. Vallaincourt Fountain, the plaza's iconic red bricks, and what's left of the granite ledges that defined different sections of the plaza, are likely to be removed. Barrow hopes to spare at least some of these features - both to commemorate the plaza's historic significance."
Ted Barrow led a local family from Chinatown through the Financial District, covering almost two centuries of urban development and key rails, ledges, and obstacles in skateboarding history. The tour ends at a three-stair ledge by Embarcadero Plaza, where two astroturfed cubes enclosed in plexiglass now host paid padel play. The city and BXP plan to redevelop Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park, a project likely to remove Vallaincourt Fountain, the plaza's red bricks, and remaining granite ledges; only a distant children's playground would remain. Barrow seeks to preserve some features to commemorate the plaza's significance and to keep street skating viable. He compares San Francisco's skate scene to 'Athens,' calling the city a cultural germinating site.
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