CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Protestors gathered Monday afternoon at the newly re-opened Cole Park Pier. The group is accusing city developers of what they call 'hostile architecture.
The term is in reference to new benches set up at the pier that make laying down impossible.
The group is accusing the City of using the bench design to prevent the homeless from being in the area.
"Hostile architecture is when cities, and transportation authorities and sometimes businesses put features in the architecture to try to keep homeless people away,” protester Mariah Boone said. “In Corpus, it’s mainly these bars in the benches so homeless people can’t lay down to rest.”
Boone said the new architecture is in response to the City's new ordinance prohibiting the sitting or lying in the public right-of-way. Those public right-of-way areas include the downtown Central Business District, North Beach and Flour Bluff.
3News reached out to City Parks & Recreation Director Dante Gonzalez who said the park’s design was meant to be welcoming to all.
"If you go to some of our parks the same railing is pretty much everywhere,” Gonzalez said. “If you walk the seawall you will see the same railing. It’s actually an industry standard across the nation. We utilize that so people can sit down. They are benches.”
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