Jesse Allen Park

Newark’s Jesse Allen Park is soaring to new heights to welcome, engage, and reflect community needs. The park includes a playground, a football field, basketball courts, and plenty of green space to relax at half time. As Newark’s second-largest city-owned park, Jesse Allen Park provides more than 18,000 people who live within a half mile a space to huddle, handoff, and high-five their teammates.

We began our journey to renovate Jesse Allen Park in 2009 when we unveiled a new walking path, state-of-the-art facilities for basketball, volleyball, tennis, and a skate park—the first to be created in a Newark park!

The second phase of renovations, which includes new lawns and landscaping, a playground and water play area, basketball courts, sports lighting, and a Fitness Zone®️ area was completed in 2012. Players from the New York Jets and children from the Boys and Girls Club of Newark worked side by side to design this outdoor exercise space.

In 2022, we completed this project by updating the playing field with state-of-the-art synthetic turf. And we also completed the park’s hidden power for addressing climate change, a large stormwater store-and-release system designed to capture rain falling on playing fields. Rainwater filters into the storage tanks and is released over time into the city’s combined stormwater and waste sewer system, helping the local sewage commission prevent overflows of untreated water. After years of community engagement and planning, we’re thrilled to bring the needs and desires of Newark’s residents to life.