Following recommendations of the 2017 New Brunswick Parks Action Plan, the City of New Brunswick partnered with the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the Rutgers University Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability (CUES) to re-design Feaster and Pittman Parks. The parks are located in the Second Ward between Commercial Avenue and Throop Avenue, separated by Handy Street. At present, there is no clear visual or physical connection between the adjacent parks, and community members mentioned during 2017 outreach that safety concerns at Feaster Park limit their use of the facilities.
In late summer of 2018, TPL and CUES began conducting interviews with key City departments, local community organizations, and school leaders about the parks as the first phase of an in-depth public outreach campaign. In September, an initial community workshop at the Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts sought preliminary feedback from neighborhood residents as to what they liked about the parks, what needed to be changed, and what they desired in a new park design. At a subsequent workshop, community members were invited to work in groups to create new park layouts using design element templates.
A single conceptual plan that synthesizes preferred park elements and provides engaging recreational experiences for all members of the neighborhood was presented at a fourth Community Workshop in early February 2019.