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The National Trust for Historic Preservation has called for the preservation of People's Park, pointing out that it is “nationally significant for its association with student protests and countercultural activities during the 1960s” and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

In a December 2023 letter to the People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group, the National Trust says, “(We wish) to express our support for the full exploration of all potential alternatives that result in the preservation of People’s Park. The exploration of alternatives is a core protection provided to historic places by CEQA.” 

“For projects that are not dependent on a single location, such as the proposed construction of student housing, a robust alternatives analysis can often identify superior win-win solutions that allow both preservation and new construction. We hope that just such a solution can be identified that enables both the construction of new student housing in Berkeley and the preservation of People’s Park,” the letter continues. 

In addition to its historical importance, People's Park is also a valuable piece of public open space in Berkeley's most densely populated neighborhood. Destroying the only piece of public open space in the South Campus area of Berkeley would have many negative impacts and would violate international, national, state and city standards for urban green space.

Bob Lalanne, former UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor for Real Estate (VCRE) notes that “People’s Park was off the table for any development while we were completing a number of dormitory projects previous to me leaving my position in 2016. Many alternative campus-owned housing development sites have been available for decades and remain to this day. The VCRE issued a report to the Chancellor in 2015 and actually requested funds from campus leadership to remodel the park and were denied. 

He continued, “We had looked into adjacent retail properties fronting on Telegraph Avenue, particularly the food retailers that back up to the Park to actually open the rear of their properties to the park for outdoor seating to enliven the Park even more. It is in part due to poor planning and the lack of execution of new student housing by campus for the past 20 years that housing did not keep up with enrollment growth and that the Park is targeted for destruction due to “housing shortage.””  

The National Trust agrees. It supports the "full exploration of all alternatives that result in the preservation of People's Park." Like the People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group, the trust believes it is possible to have a win-win solution that includes "the construction of student housing and the preservation of People's Park." 

The Washington D.C.-based trust, chartered by Congress in 1949, acts "to protect significant historic places and advocate for historical preservation as a fundamental value in programs and policies at all levels of government.” 

The National Trust letter is attached in a pdf file here.