Drained turtle pond to be remodeled
By Kayla Landers, September 30, 2025
With the $9 million demolition of the residence hall complex, including the Palmitas and Cedritos dorms, along with the La Cienega Center and Los Olivos Commons, well underway, students are curious about what’s next for the land and the animals that used to live there.
Matthew Whinery, Senior Associate Vice President of Facilities Planning & Management, said the demolition is still ongoing, with the project team continuing to remove all materials from the site. A rough grade, where the ground will be leveled to make it usable and not dangerous to people, is also needed, but the site will be renovated into a park once everything is safe and in order.
“The plan is to have pathways that will weave through the new trees and landscape with seating areas for students to gather along the way, filled with seating and power charging stations,” Whinery said.
Gary Fong previously shared the demolition project and park plans with students. However, what wasn’t as openly discussed is the effect these plans have on the turtles and fish that once lived in the pond located on the property.
“I did know about the old dorms getting demolished, but not about the pond, too,” said Brianna Bel, a student majoring in nutritional science.
During the construction, the pond was completely drained, raising the question of what happened to the wildlife living in it.
“I would like to assume that the campus had relocated the wildlife, even if just temporarily, but it would be nice to be notified if they were, say, to be moved to another area on campus,” said Allyson Lee, a general civil engineering student.
The pond will not share the same fate as the completely demolished buildings, according to Whinery. Rather, the plan is to create a revitalized version of it, with aeration equipment that will ensure a more balanced ecosystem. Guardrails, benches, and a landscape buffer will also accompany the new pond.
After the pond was drained, some students began to discuss possible conspiracies about what happened to the turtles on Reddit, ranging from the turtles being rehomed to the turtles being euthanized after their removal. But Whinery discussed the removal of the turtles and fish, ultimately smashing any theories.
“An environmental company was hired by the project team to humanely remove the turtles and fish from the pond,” Whinery said.
He said the turtles, once captured, went through a series of assessments, where they were placed in holding pens until the end of the day. From there, a biologist examined the turtles, and the healthy ones were transported via truck and quarantined. The quarantine period spanned two weeks, and once that time was up, they were relocated to turtle sanctuaries across California or were placed into the pet industry.
Turtles deemed unhealthy or undersized by the biologist were transported to the company’s warehouse until they were healthy or large enough to be adopted.
The assorted fish living in the pond, including bass, catfish, bluegill and sunfish, were also captured and placed into aerated holding tanks for a period until they were transported to another location and released, Whinery said.
He explained that the ornamental species of fish, like koi, if healthy, were adopted by the company’s clients or by a pet wholesaler.
At this time, the types of wildlife that will live in this new revitalized pond have not been revealed.
Feature image courtesy of Ryan Fogg
