Parks for People -- Newark

A child enjoys the swing set at the renovated Mildred Helms Park. Photo: Marni Horwitz.
New Jersey's largest city badly needs outdoor play space
Did you know that fewer than 50 percent of the children in Newark, the state's largest city live within walking distance of a safe park or playground? By engaging all segments of the community, TPL is creating a citywide network of parks and playgrounds that will provide 50,000 residents with access to badly needed outdoor recreational spaces.

Participation in the process is program cornerstone
Design teams of students, city and school staff, and members of the community are involved with all phases of the process from evaluation to final design. They work to include green elements such as trees, learning gardens, and planting beds and incorporate fields, play equipment, and ball courts to offer new opportunities for exercise, sports, and recreation. This educational and rewarding process establishes a community investment in the new outdoor spaces.

Recent projects As of 2010, this program created nine new community parks and playgrounds and marshaled $30 million in public and philanthropic funds. TPL is helping to develop the two largest city-owned parks, adding 15 acres of new facilities.

  • Newark Riverfront Park
    TPL is the city's lead partner in creating the first phase of this riverfront park. This effort is part of an effort too reclaim more than two miles of the Passaic River shoreline and the first project based upon Mayor Booker's resident-centered vision of a revitalized riverfront.
  • Jesse Allen Park
    In September 2009, locals gathered with Mayor Cory Booker to celebrate the first of three planned renovations to 8-acre Jesse Allen Park, the second-largest City-owned park in Newark. The renovations will be phased over several years as funding becomes available. The first phase added facilities for basketball, volleyball, tennis, and for the first time in a Newark-operated park, skateboarding.
  • Nat Turner Park
    In the 1970s, community activists from Newark's Central Ward demanded green space for their community and land was designated for a park to be named after Nat Turner, leader of a 19th-century slave rebellion. In 2002 TPL and partners launched the effort to develop that park, which upon completion in July, 2009, became Newark's largest city-owned.

    • Updated 2/2010


    FILE ATTACHMENTS:
    Parks for People Newark Brochure
    Parks for People Newark Summary
    Park for People Newark Site Map (Updated 4/2010)


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