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People's Park | |
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![]() People's Park in 2021 | |
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Type | Urban park |
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 | Closed pending 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 former park and a plot of land that is 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]
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.[7] 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.[8] Known as "Bloody Thursday", police used tear gas and opened fire on the protesters to quell the riot, resulting in the death of James Rector and multiple injuries.[8] In 1984, the city of Berkeley declared it a historical and cultural landmark.[9]
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 supporters of the park have delayed those plans through opposition including protests,[10][11] lawsuits,[12][13] alleged sabotage of construction equipment,[14] and overnight occupations of the site.[15]
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 protesters from entering.[16] On June 6, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the university's favor, allowing construction to proceed.[17][18][19]
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