Riverbank Park in Newark began to be built in 1907. The park was designed by the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, creator of Central Park.
In 1996, the Ironbound community learned from a friend reading a suburban newspaper that Essex County and the City of Newark were making a deal with Rick Cerone, the ex-Yankee baseball player, to build a baseball stadium for the Newark Bears in Riverbank Park.
Ironbound with over 50,000 residents had only about 22 acres of usable recreational space. Baseball and soccer teams were fighting over the small number of available fields. Losing Riverbank Park would make the situation worse. Ironbound Community Corporation helped the community to organize SPARK, Save the Park at RiverbanK, and a David vs. Goliath fight took place, with nearly every politician on the side of the development.
SPARK’s various strategies included a legal challenge, a city-wide referendum special election on the issue, a bid to get the park declared as a historic site (which later happened), and an appeal to the National Park Service which eventually led to the Secretary of the Interior in the White House. The community was successful. The Olmsted created park, over 100 years old, was preserved.
In 2001, SPARK formed a non-profit organization, and in 2004 began two programs in the park: Cultural Arts and Community Learning that continue to be successful to this day. Over 2000 students have gone through the Community Learning Program.
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