Mayor Ras J. Baraka and other dignitaries will announce the construction for the development of the Newark Community Museum on Monday, July 12, at noon, at Central High School, located at 246 18th Avenue in the City’s Central Ward.
Newark’s 1st Precinct, located at 17th Avenue, will be closed by December 31, 2021 and be transitioned into the museum and headquarters for the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery and chronicle local activism and positive police changes. Newark’s 1st Precinct is the location where the 1967 Newark Rebellion began, on July 12, 1967. At that time, the structure was designated the 4th Precinct.
Under the direction of Newark Historian Junius Williams, the Museum Advisory Committee will help convert the building into a place where Newark residents’ movements for justice and celebrations of life will be on permanent display. Residents will be asked to donate their artifacts for display as long as they portray a story of resistance to injustice, and stories of people’s struggle for justice. In addition, the committee is commissioning a series of video documentaries entitled “Our City – Our Stories,” which will premiere at this event.
Global architecture firm Gensler led the design of the Newark Community Museum, which incorporated feedback and aspirations from the community.