New Construction Plans Could Destroy Iconic San Francisco Skate Spot

A New San Francisco construction plan to revitalize downtown could spell the end for the legendary Embarcadero Plaza skate spot.

Sep 10, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; The NFL Kickoff Concert stage is set up near the San Francisco Ferry Building with the Bay Bridge in the background at Justin Herman Plaza. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco is legendary. While you may not know the name, if you have consumed skateboarding in any fashion, you have more than likely seen the historic plaza serve as a backdrop to prolific skate videos, magazine covers, photos, and even featured as a map in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game series. Just a short walk from the San Francisco Pier, it is one of skateboarding's most hallowed grounds, skated by locals and out-of-towners since the 1980s.

Embarcadero Plaza has been the site of numerous classic tricks throughout the years, and it is still prominently featured in skate videos and magazines up to this day. If you need a visual, the famous stairs Koston 360 flipped in the ender for his famed 101 skateboards part is in Embarcadero Plaza.

Since the 1980s, the plaza's skateable areas have shrunk, changed, and morphed over the years, but a recent development may spell the plaza's end as a skateable landmark.

A recent plan by the city of San Francisco aims to repurpose the fountain and plaza space into a new open-air grass park to attract people to its downtown waterfront. The city's proposal, created by construction firm BXP, includes a sculpture garden, food trucks, volleyball courts, and picnic areas. It also aims to connect this space to the nearby South Embarcadero and Sue Bierman Park to create a cohesive 5-acre space.

While the designs feature a laundry list of offerings at the proposed construction site, one critical omission was skateboarding. Though the plaza and fountain area were not originally designed as designated skateboarding zones, they have been skated since the 1980s and are a historic site for skateboarders.

If Embarcadero Plaza is dismantled, more than 40 years' worth of skateboarding lore will be dismantled as well. The plaza has seen skate culture evolve; it was the background where some of the most iconic tricks, videos, and photos have been taken. If the new construction plan comes to fruition, the movements and moments that helped shape skateboarding culture will be remembered only in skate media archives.

Embarcadero is a monument of how creativity helped the sport grow and flourish through various generations of skating. Dismantling Embarcadero would desecrate a holy ground to local skaters and thousands of skateboarders worldwide.

In an ideal world, Embarcadero can live on. Retaining a skate area in the redesign would show respect to the legacy of this landmarked place while enabling the city to update its waterfront. San Francisco residents and policymakers should consider the cultural significance of Embarcadero for skateboarders and acknowledge its significance to downtown San Francisco as a whole.