Center for Community

Urban League of Essex County (ULEC)
Newark, NJ

rePLACE Urban Studio provided neighborhood and master planning services for the Urban League of Essex County, a non-profit community organization in western Newark, NJ. The project included outdoor landscape design, conceptual planning of a new community center, cost proposals for various scenarios, and the facilitation of public meetings for input.

A key aspect to this project was the formulation of an endowment concept which would allow for ULEC to operate and maintain their Community Center in perpetuity. The building itself was programmed and sized by working to an annual operational budget; high-value portions of the site were dedicated to leasable commercial space in order to provide ULEC with maximized returns. At the center of the site, an existing stormwater retention basin was transformed into a flexible, dynamic new public open space. Playgrounds and basketball courts can transformed into performance stages, community events, and fresh food markets.

Public Workshop #2

January 31, 2019

rePLACE Urban Studio, in partnership with the Urban League of Essex County, facilitated a public workshop in Fairmount Heights.