Newark’s Washington Park was made well-known in 2002 by The Sopranos. In season 4, episode three, David Chase confirmed a Christopher Columbus statue, put in in 1927, as the location of a protest in opposition to Columbus by Indigenous activists. Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) rallies his associates to intimidate them. However it doesn’t work, and Furio Giunta (Federico Castelluccio) sides with the activists: “In Napoli, lots of people will not be so pleased about Columbus, as a result of he was from Genoa. … I hate the north.”
Off air, Washington Park was the location of very actual protests in opposition to Columbus and, by extension, white supremacy and settler-colonialism, in 2020. After nearly a century, the Columbus statue was faraway from Newark’s Washington Park that 12 months, and the park was later renamed Harriet Tubman Sq. by order of Newark mayor Ras Baraka. In 2021 town of Newark hosted a contest to reimagine the park. Two years later, a monument to Tubman, Shadow of a Face, designed by Studio Cooke John, was erected.
Shadow of a Face’s completion in 2023 marked the top of part one. Now, the challenge is getting into part two, which entails in depth park-wide upgrades ideated by Edgewater Design, an area panorama structure agency. (Edgewater Design collaborated with Studio Cooke John on part one.) In part two, new programming can be launched to make the park extra multifunctional, as requested by town of Newark, Edgewater Design shared in a press launch.
In part two, underutilized lawns can be swapped out with new neighborhood options. A brand new leisure plaza at Washington and Jane Streets can have ornamental pavement, mounted benches, and tables. There may also be a brand new public consolation station designed by Nina Cooke John. The consolation station can have a utility room, storage, and two public restrooms.
Two new devoted play areas towards Washington Place can have slides, climbing buildings, a play tunnel, and musical play gear. Current greenery surrounding the Tubman monument and website infrastructure may also be improved. Pathways and lighting methods can be modernized. Concrete paths can be changed with extra engaging brick and concrete. New brick monument indicators can be positioned at three nook entrances, Edgewater Design acknowledged.
The park is within the James Road Historic District. Edgewater Design affirmed all essential approvals from the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Workplace and Newark Landmarks and Historic Preservation Fee have been secured.
“We’re holding the historic character of the park, however we’re going to introduce new programming to the park, which was requested by town,” Jan Saltiel Rafel of Edgewater Design mentioned in an announcement final January.
