Embarcadero Park Pavilion: Three Designs Go to the Arts Commission October 19

The design team for the new Embarcadero Park will show the San Francisco Arts Commission three versions of a pavilion and stage for the park’s central lawn on Monday, October 19, 2026. The pavilion is a central element of the $40 million rebuild of Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park, the five acres between the foot of Market Street and the Ferry Building.

The item is on the agenda of the Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review Committee, which meets from 2 to 4 p.m. in City Hall, Room 416. The committee will take up the park in a conceptual and Phase 1 review and the pavilion in a separate conceptual review, with “discussion and possible action” on both. The meeting streams on SFGovTV, and anyone attending in person gets up to three minutes of public comment per item.

Three Pavilion Options

The 60-page presentation posted with the agenda, prepared by the Recreation and Park Department and lead designer HOK, describes the pavilion as having a dual role: shade structure and performance stage. The design criteria call for a stage clearance of 30 by 50 feet with at least 20 feet of height, and the current canopy measures 102 by 30 feet.

Option 1 is a traditional pavilion-style shade structure. Options 2A and 2B are two versions of a more sculptural, curving roof, each shown in aerial, front, back and night views. SFist reported that the pavilion would stand about 40 feet tall and sit on one side of the main lawn, and that Rec and Park expects it to host concerts, festivals and puppet shows.

The Arts Commission’s review form for the project lists a construction budget of $28 million, a construction start of December 1, 2026 and completion by December 15, 2027. HOK and the city have given the total project cost as $40 million, paid for through a public-private partnership with BXP, the owner of the neighboring Embarcadero Center towers. SFist reported that BXP put $2.5 million toward the initial design.

What the Rest of the Park Looks Like

The plan removes the walls and level changes left over from the Embarcadero Freeway, which came down after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and joins the plaza and the park into one space. The presentation’s site map labels the zones Art Agnos Plaza at the Market Street end, Sue Bierman Commons and Sue Bierman West. Planned features include:

• A large multi-use lawn at the center that can hold a stage, festivals or seasonal setups
• The existing playground, which stays, plus a new dog play area and social games near Washington and Drumm streets
• Planted buffer gardens along the Embarcadero that treat most of the park’s stormwater runoff
• Flexible seating next to Embarcadero Center for outdoor dining
• A Market Street gateway plaza for art, festivals and street artists

The deck also shows a draft plan to move the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument and the Korean monument “Movement: The First 100 Years” by Man Lin Cho to new spots in the park. One slide reports that visits to the two parks fell 59 percent between 2017 and 2025. Three community meetings, in March 2025, July 2025 and June 2026, drew 1,054, 738 and 728 survey responses.

How the Site Got Here

The Recreation and Park Commission unanimously approved the park’s concept design in June 2026, according to HOK. The Vaillancourt Fountain, which HOK’s announcement described as non-operational and a public hazard, was taken apart earlier this year. Marco Cochrane’s 45-foot sculpture R-Evolution was removed from the plaza this month; SFGuide covered its farewell event and removal dates.

Monday’s review is an early design step. The committee can comment, request changes or approve the concept, and the project returns for later phases before construction.

Visiting the Area Now

The plaza sits across the Embarcadero from the Ferry Building, at the Embarcadero BART and Muni Metro station and the F Market and Wharves streetcar line. SFGuide’s Embarcadero walking tour covers the waterfront history the new park plans to interpret, including the freeway and its removal.

Sources: San Francisco Arts Commission, Civic Design Review agenda, October 19, 2026; Embarcadero Park Civic Design Review presentation; Request for Review form; HOK; SFist.

Photo: The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Vaillancourt Fountain before its removal.