Berkeleyside obtained the information via a request, through the state’s Public Records Act about two weeks ago.
According to the records, UC-Berkeley spent $6.6 million dollars in its campaign to clear and secure People’s Park, where it plans to build 1,100 rooms of student and supportive housing.
The construction of the $400 million project has stirred the repeated opposition of several community groups, who have staged large public demonstrations and legal fights aimed at stopping the development.
The university spent nearly half of the money to build a perimeter around the park, including nearly a million dollars for shipping containers that ring the area.
About a half-million dollars were paid on surveying and engineering, and more than a million more dollars was spent on gates.The lion’s share of the expenses – nearly four million dollars – were spent on law enforcement.
Of that total, about one-and-a-half million dollars went to pay overtime for UC police officers and more than $600,000 for outside security services, as well as about $900,000 for lodging.
In a press release, the university said it has spent nearly five million more dollars since 2022 to provide temporary housing options, including local hotel rooms, for people who lived at People’s Park.
