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People's Park | |
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Type | Construction site, student housing |
Location | Berkeley, California, U.S. |
Coordinates | 37°51′56″N 122°15′25″W / 37.86556°N 122.25694°W |
Area | 2.8 acres (1.1 ha)[1] |
Closed | January 4, 2024 |
Owned by | University of California, Berkeley |
Status | Under construction |
NRHP reference No. | 100007288 |
BERKL No. | 190[2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | May 31, 2022 |
Designated BERKL | November 19, 1984 |
People's Park in Berkeley, California is a parcel of land owned by the University of California, Berkeley. Located east of Telegraph Avenue and bound by Haste and Bowditch Streets and Dwight Way, People's Park was a symbol during the radical political activism of the late 1960s.[3][4][5][6] Formerly a park, the site is now under construction for new university student housing and homeless supportive housing.[7]
While the land is owned by the University of California, People's Park was de facto established as a public park on April 20, 1969, by local activists.[8] On May 13, University Chancellor Roger W. Heyns announced plans to construct a soccer field on the site, leading to a confrontation two days later between protesters and police on May 15.[9] Known as "Bloody Thursday", police used tear gas and opened fire on the protesters to quell the riot, resulting notably in the death of James Rector.[9] In 1984, the city of Berkeley declared it a historical and cultural landmark.[10]
In 2018, the university published a plan to build 1,100 new units of student housing and 125 units of supportive housing for homeless people on the site, but a small contingent of activists delayed those plans through opposition including protests,[11][12] lawsuits,[13][14] sabotage of construction equipment,[15] and trespassing on the site.[16] The housing plans were backed by the Berkeley City Council, Mayor Jesse Arreguin, Berkeley's California Assembly representative Buffy Wicks and California Governor Gavin Newsom, and a majority of UC Berkeley students.[17]
Pending a judgment in a legal challenge to the university's housing plan, the park was closed off in early January 2024, when construction workers and police surrounded the park with a 17-foot high wall of shipping containers to prevent trespassing.[18] On June 6, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the university's favor, allowing construction to proceed.[19][20][21] Consequently, construction officially started on July 22.[22]
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