Cal Poly Humboldt considers housing students on barge among other options

EUREKA, Calif. — Cal Poly Humboldt is looking outside of the box and onto the water in its desperate search for student housing options.

After announcing earlier this week that on-campus housing will no longer be available to continuing students starting in the fall, one idea for where to house students involves a barge docked on Humboldt Bay.

"We're definitely in the exploratory area right now where we're just trying to see what's possible and what's feasible," Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery said.

Because the City of Eureka owns the tidelands, the university has been working with city officials like Slattery to see if this is a viable option.

"I've been talking to the State Lands Commission; I've been talking to the Coast Guard; I've been talking to the Harbor District and talking to our staff to see what is possible and what it would take to make this happen," Slattery said.

The university is currently housing some students in motels, which the university intends to continue as an option for continuing students. The university said it is also "exploring other options," like the barge idea.

These unconventional solutions to the school's housing issue come from a need to act quickly, Slattery said.

"That's the whole intent. I mean, obviously, if it doesn't meet that timeframe, we'll get it in as soon as possible," Slattery said.

While the university has announced plans to build a more typical dorm-style complex just off campus at the former Craftsman Mall, this project won't be completed for several years. In the meantime, options like the barge may be an option to provide student housing.

"This would be a temporary option, and that's what makes it actually even potentially viable, because there's no way that we could do this on a permanent status. It would have to be a temporary housing option," Slattery said.

In an email to North Coast News, Cal Poly Humboldt Communications Specialist Grant Scott-Goforth said this idea is very preliminary at this point and that it is one of many possibilities the university is exploring. In response to a question about what other options CPH is currently considering, Goforth only mentioned the three motels that are already being used to house students in the Valley West area of Arcata.