Last week, a local judge ruled that the university could start construction at the site. UC Berkeley plans to construct a housing complex there to accommodate 11-hundred students with below-market housing
The latest push from the University of California in People’s Park is to build a $312 million housing complex for students,The university has also pledged to build housing for some of the local homeless community, who are being displaced.
Sixty percent of the park will be preserved by the construction project as revitalized green space, and it will include a memorialization of the park’s past and historical significance.
UC Berkeley officials said they are temporarily halting the construction due to “unlawful protest activity.”
The fight to save the park has a long history. UC Berkeley has been trying to build on the 2.8-acre park since the late 1960s, when it was a popular staging ground for various counter-cultural movements.
Throughout the years, the university has floated plans to build a soccer field on the site, as well a parking lot. But those plans were ultimately stopped due to pressure from local groups who want the park maintained as an open, community space.
