The courtyard plaza of the Newburgh Free Library has been the home of a bust of renowned Italian poet Dante Alighieri for over three decades. Plans were announced in December 2023 to relocate the bust back to its original home in Downing Park.

The bust relocation project came before the Newburgh City Council during their December 7, 2023 work session with a proposed Professional Design and Engineering Services Agreement with Environmental Design & Research, Landscape Architecture, Engineering & Environmental Services, D.P.C. (EDR). The firm was founded in 1979 and is a certified woman owned business.

Several services such as Landscape Architecture, Engineering, Environmental Permitting & Ecological Resource Management, Community Planning, Visualization, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are offered through EDR.

The intention of the city is to move the bust of Alighieri from the plaza at the Newburgh Free Library to a new location in the city, preferably back to Downing Park where it was originally. The finalized location of the bust within the park was to be determined.

The agreement with EDR would see the firm work with the City of Newburgh in the creation of schematic and design plans for the statue relocation, conduct various meetings with stakeholders and other partners and seek project approvals.

The Newburgh City Council approved on December 11, 2023 to award the contract to EDR in the amount of $49,780, derived from the budget line A.1440.0455 titled “Consultant Services” under the Engineering section of the city budget. The agreement is available under the December 11 agenda documents.

City of Newburgh Chief of Staff Mike Neppl said it is still an active project, but there is no progress update at this time. EDR was also contacted for comment and an update on the project. The inquiry was referred to the city’s press office for comments.

Prior to its new location in the library plaza, the bust once sat adjacent to the city’s pergola at the top of the hill in Downing Park. The bust itself was a gift of the Sons of Italy, dedicated on October 12, 1921.

The area surrounding the pergola was once home to various flower gardens and other beautified areas but vandalism, even towards the bust, would eventually follow. The bust was restored by the Newburgh Chapter of UNICO in 1986 and later relocated to the library plaza. The pergola at the top of the hill in the park still remains standing but has been subject to vandalism and graffiti over the years.

At the top of the hill in the park near the pergola, the Colored Burial Ground project headed by Studio HIP Landscape Architecture, PLLC and PUSH Studio, LLC, seeks to return disturbed remains of African Americans with a newly constructed memorial space for the community. The remains were uncovered during routine construction at the Broadway School, known today as the City Courthouse, in 2008, and have been preserved in hopes of returning them home to the City of Newburgh.