Newburgh City Council welcomed Studio HIP Landscape Architecture and PUSH Studio on Thursday, July 6 for an update and presentation on the Newburgh African-American Burial Ground project. The overall project seeks the reinterment of human remains disturbed awaiting return to the city.

The tragic history of the burial ground began in 2008 with the uncovering of human remains of children, women and men that were disturbed and uncovered during reconstruction of the Broadway School (City Courthouse) on the corner of Route 9W and the Broadway corridor. “When there was a significant rehabilitation of the courthouse, the old Broadway school, there were a number of remains found under that site,” said Alexandra Church, City of Newburgh Planning and Development Director.

The school was first constructed in 1908 and was completed atop the grave site. The discovery in 2008 led to a series of excavations that removed the remains, and SUNY New Paltz and other institutions have served as curators for the remains.

“A diligent committee, a citizen committee along with the city, has been working on finding a final reinterment space for that,” said Church. Members of this citizen committee include Ramona Burton, Dr. Benilda Armstead-Jones, Gabrielle Burton-Hill and Pamela Krizek. In November 2022, a design services agreement was signed and approved by the city council for the design of a memorial space for the approved reinterment site located at the top of the hill in Downing Park, overlooking the city and Hudson River.

Joining the council were Elizabeth Hand-Fry, Principal Landscape Architect of Studio HIP, and Glenn Smith, Co-Founder and Senior Principal of PUSH Studio, who along with other colleagues presented two concept ideas for the interment site. With the site again seeking to overlook the river, Smith explained the design would be starting at the top of the hill while making its way down carefully along the slope where the remains would be reinterred.

The first concept shows a design with an entry point to the site that educates the community about the burial ground and the related history. Two ramps would go downward with one going to an education site and the other to a contemplation site. Within the interior area of the site would be where the remains would be reinterred. The second site concept begins with the entry point with historical markers leading directly into the educational space instead. Further down a ramp, a larger curved contemplation area overlooking the river with a larger reinterment area concludes the design. “The next steps would be for us to determine the material nature of the designs, what would the walls be made out of, what would the paving be made out of, some of the planting that we would recommend,” said Smith.

Council comments expressed support for the overall project. “I 100 percent support this project,” said Councilman Anthony Grice. “I think it’s going to be beautiful once the design is done and built and finished,” said Councilwoman Ramona Monteverde.

Councilman Omari Shakur inquired more about the educational aspect to the site, to which Smith shared that the specific aspect of the site is still being discussed with the planning department and the historians. Broadly put, the space would be able to accommodate teacher and student lectures from local schools potentially, various community groups could also come up to learn more about the history and there could potentially be celebrations of the site if the city chose to conduct that.

Councilman Bob Sklarz addressed the different interment spaces, as one concept features a more central and protected area whereas the second concept seems to be more open. Smith shared that the team is still working on the design and may need to make changes later on.

By mid-fall, finalized, concrete concepts and next steps should be made available to the city council according to Church. The firm has been contracted to work on this project through the remainder of the year. A monument for the courthouse was said to be placed by this September, according to Church.