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People's Park | |
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![]() People's Park in 2021 with homeless people's tents | |
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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 with plans to build student housing 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. However, the University of California never relinquished its property rights to the land, which means that no persons responsible for the establishment of People's Park as a public park ever had the legal authority to do so. This effectively turns People's Park into a case of persistent squatting, loitering, and trespassing over a period of sixty or so years since 1969 that was never ultimately criminally prosecuted. [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 a small contingent of activists of residents and activists have delayed those plans through opposition including protests,[10][11] lawsuits,[12][13] sabotage of construction equipment,[14] and overnight occupations of the site.[15] 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.
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.[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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