University students turn to Marshall Street for unsanctioned St. Patrick's Day party

University students headed to Marshall Street and King Street Friday as their newest unsanctioned party destination for St. Patrick's Day.

Both Waterloo Regional Police and Ontario Provincial Police officers stood at corners of the intersection watching students shuffle through a large crowd. 

The gathering for St. Patrick's Day is also a block outside of Ezra Avenue, where thousands of students infamously came together in 2019. Police at the time also received complaints about property damage, open alcohol and public intoxication.

"I'm not surprised there's a big turnout throughout the years. I'm not surprised that it came into Marshall (this year), either," said Emma Lampert, a fifth-year sociology student at Laurier University and celebrated St. Patrick's Day with friends indoors away from the crowd.

This year, Waterloo regional police fenced off Ezra Avenue and closed traffic across the weekend to keep the street empty. Groups of officers were also on scene to break up misbehaviour and control the flow of students from both Waterloo universities.

"My biggest hope is that the cops and the constables provide us with safety as opposed to fear," Lampert said while remembering damage done by students around Ezra Avenue in 2019.

"It's unfortunate that people do destroy cars, property and other stuff. I think that there's no space for that.I don't know how they [street parties] started, but they've gotten really, really big," she added.

Students also struggled to move through Marshall Street, while friends huddled in single file and dodged soccer balls, drops of beer and muddy puddles.

According to Josh McCormick, an alumni from business communications in at University of Waterloo, locations for this year's unsanctioned block party were boxed into an area that wasn't restricted like Ezra Avenue.

"It would probably be best if we could just have a safe space where everyone could go and participate where you're not in any danger of having people riot," said McCormick.

Cordoning off Ezra Avenue didn't stop students from congregating around the area with a big turnaround, he added.

"It's just a band aid of the school that owns the street [Ezra Avenue] as well. Kind of just patching up and putting the onus on other people in the area."