People’s Park for the (Better) People
On Monday, December 4th, the People’s Park Community Advisory Board will discuss plans to make the park safer and more available to the Berkeley community. The city and the UCPD propose removing a mound of dirt from the northwest corner in order to reduce “illegal activity.”
The 7 p.m. meeting will be held at the United Methodist Church at 2362 Bancroft Way.
There has been talk forever about remodeling and cleaning up the park. It definitely has lost its community appeal since the whole fiasco in ‘69. People died in that battle for the park. Then again, that was the 60’s.
Nevertheless, having a safe and beautiful park would be a great asset for those who live within walking distance. Sure, the campus has a lot of grass and trees, but a park provides an escape from the confines of a room — a classroom, a dorm room.
Will cleaning up the park be part of Mayor Bates’ homeless plan? I assume that “cleaning up” also means “cleaning out.”
I’m not so sure, though, that removing a mound of dirt is going to significantly deter someone from buying a bag of weed. Really, a mound of dirt?
The University needs to reclaim the land it rightfully owns and build something useful on it - more housing, for example, or perhaps some offices that are currently taking up valuable space on the main campus.
It’s hard to believe the University can’t do what it wants on land that it OWNS.
Comment by Bhanu Singh — November 27, 2006 @ 11:07 pm
Lead the way, Bhanu. I’d love to see the public’s reaction to something like that.
Comment by Chris Smyr — November 27, 2006 @ 11:19 pm
I think “People’s Parking Lot” would be a good choice given the parking shortage, and plus the name would just soud really cool!
Comment by anon54 — November 28, 2006 @ 9:27 am
Moving the dirt is not intended to deter the sellers. It’s intended to give the police in squad cars a clear view of that seller.
Comment by Anon — November 28, 2006 @ 12:06 pm
A nice multi-story parking garage there would be most excellent.
Comment by Bhanu Singh — November 29, 2006 @ 12:14 am