Newark City Planning 1911 to 2011
It just so happened that the week I heard about neighborhood meetings for Newark's Master Plan I found a paperback book in our living room called, "Reinventing Newark"
Halsey Street
Halsey Street was proposed by planners starting in 1957. It would be closed to vehicular traffic with a 50 foot wide pedestrian mall reaching from Washington Park to Market Street. They expected that 90% of retail for the city to be on Halsey Street with its large department stores (ie. S. Klein - who's skeleton still remains). It would include restaurants, parking, moving belt walks, children's playground and more.
Cultural Center
Post World War II began reconstruction plans for Newark, which included a Cultural Center located on Washington Street between Central Avenue and Orange Street (see map). Plans included a concert hall, offices and an open mall for walking and remained on the drawing board until NJPAC was built near the end of the 20th Century.
Newark Madison Square Garden
A Sports and Entertainment Arena is probably the oldest plan for Newark - proposed as a Madison Square Gardens of Newark in 1926. For 70+ years it continued to be reworked as a convention hall, coliseum, etc. until it was finally realized as our current PruCenter.
Other items discussed in Reinventing Newark - were the Gateway Complex (also called the Floating City), a Newark Eiffel Tower, Botanical Gardens and Grant USA Tower on Broad Street to be the tallest building in the world (named after Iraqi born entrepreneur Harry Grant).
So why take a look at the past? I remember this line written on the board of my 6th grade history classroom - "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it." I look forward to attending the Master Plan meeting on Wednesday and hope I'm around to see the ideas put into action.
Below is a link for the book on Amazon or you can visit the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers Newark - 111 Washington Street (2nd & 3rd Floor). Dr. Marc Holzer, one of the authors of Reinventing Newark, is the Dean. The school exhibits many photos and plans from the book.
