Monroe Park opened last week after nearly two years of renovations

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Cutler also said there was anger among upperclassmen when the park’s opening was continuously delayed.

“It was annoying waiting for it to be rebuilt,” Cutler said.

VCU freshman Raatib Rahman said that, so far, he likes the park.

“It’s a lot better coming from class-toclass because sometimes I have to walk all the way to [T. Edward Temple Building]. Before, I’d just go around. Now, I can just cut through the park,” Rahman said. “Overall, I’m really glad that it’s open, because for the longest time it’s just been under construction. But now it’s open and free to the public and I feel like it’s a good environment for people to just chill out.”

Rahman said the landscaping of the park is nice, but the 22-month renovation period was too long for what the park has offered in its opening week. While walking his dog through Monroe Park, he said he feels a dog park is the biggest thing missing in the green space.

“You have a lot of people walking their dogs here and — if they had 22 months and they knew that people would want to walk their dogs here — they could have at least built a fence,” Rahman said.

Rahman said he sees himself coming to Monroe Park a lot while he’s on campus.

“My dorm building is right there, so it’s just a nice walk across,” Rahman said. “If I lived somewhere else, I’d still be coming here. It’s just a nice place to relax.”

Even though the park is open, several new additions are still under construction. The Dominion Energy pavilion, VCU Police substation and a coffee shop will open in the coming weeks.