People’s Park in Berkeley is a well-used space with a rich history of both positive and very negative events.

The park’s distinct place in the Bay Area’s imagination has previously stymied UC Berkeley’s attempts to develop it for student housing and a recreation area. Now, facing one of the worst student housing shortages in campus history, UC Berkeley officials are eyeing the park again as a place to build badly needed dormitories.

The idea is worth considering. But UC Berkeley officials will need to tread carefully. Berkeley is a city that is rightly proud of its history in the free speech, student movement and antiwar demonstrations of the second half of the 20th century.

Any development at People’s Park, the site of student protests for decades and the terrible Bloody Thursday events of 1969, must honor this past rather than erase it.

It’s also important to note that the park’s current usage, as a refuge for homeless people and neighborhood eccentrics, has its problems. Still, it’s in keeping with the park’s history as an experimental symbol of community. Considering the historical dimensions of today’s homelessness crisis, any development project on the park’s grounds must include provisions for this community, too.

Berkeley’s reputation for strong public opinion means that UC will face a development fight no matter how it conducts itself at People’s Park. There’s a vocal contingent of Berkeley residents who won’t be happy with the idea of any development at People’s Park.

These residents should understand that today’s Berkeley students are facing difficult battles of their own. At the top of that list is housing affordability.