Scenes from May 25 Ironbound riverfront walkshop

Dire weather reports and cloudy skies failed to keep a band of Newark riverfront walkers away from today’s hard hat tour.

  
Between Penn Station and Chapel Street, the group took in the osprey rook (orange platform in center distance)…

…and pondered traffic re-engineering Raymond Blvd to balance needs of pedestrian park-goers and drivers.

  
A quick look around the construction site of the city’s second segment of riverfront park included its orange boardwalk…

Planting has been done only in last few weeks. These are river birch trees.    
Assembleyman Albert Coutinho inspected the premises.

Former Market Street Gas Works, currently being remediated by PSE&G, perhaps a future extension of riverfront park.

This tour was organized by Newark Riverfront Revival and Ironbound Community Corporation with support from an Urban Waters Small Grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Newark Riverfront Park sign prototypes

From the beginning of the design process for Newark’s second segment of riverfront park, many residents advocated for this area, which is too narrow for sports fields, to be a place for environmental education. Sister Carol Johnston reminded us all that this meant learning about the river, the plants, and the animals, and also, especially here in Newark, about how people come together to make the riverfront a better place: the movement for environmental justice is the story of why this park exists.

    A large-scale routed map of Newark will show every Newark neighborhood in relationship to the river.

  Selected steel rails along the boardwalk will be cut with water jets to illustrate how things work on the river, including factories, watersheds, sewers, and wildlife.

Screenprinted and enameled signs will be mounted on logs illustrating the nuts and bolts of river life led by Lenape people, the Morris Canal, Ironbound park supporters, and the Balbach Smelting Works.

May 25: Ironbound Riverfront Tour

On Saturday, May 25, come explore the Ironbound Riverfront!

This walking tour will cover nearly 2 miles of the Newark riverfront between Penn Station and Chapel Street: its history, current developments, and visions for its future. Newarkers have been working for more than three decades to create public access to the river; come see how far we’ve come!

Wear comfortable clothes and sturdy closed-toe shoes. You are encouraged to bring a bottle of water.

Saturday, May 25, 2013, 11 am–1 pm
Meet at Newark Penn Station Info Booth
Free and open to the public, but RSVP required!
(973) 733-5736
newarkriverfront [at] gmail [dot] com

UPDATE: The tour has reached capacity, but please call or email to be placed on the waiting list and to receive news of future tours.

  

Help finish the Welcome Sign for the next piece of riverfront park!

UPDATED Thanks to everyone who shared their suggestions and comments. We got great ideas like adding Kreyol (Newark’s fourth most-spoken language) to the welcomes and showing Speedway School in the West Ward. Sorry we can’t show every park or every Essex County park in the city!

Help us finish the welcome sign for the second segment of riverfront park. What buildings do you recognize or not? What looks good? What looks funny? Post comments here or write newarkriverfront [at] gmail.com.

Click on image for larger version.