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Journal Square has marked several milestones recently, including the start of Panepinto Properties’ 53-story residential tower and the topping out of Urby’s 317-unit apartment building — and that’s just in the past two weeks. In another testament to the development taking place in the Jersey City neighborhood, on Tuesday a community-led project to introduce new public spaces in the historic area got to work.

Mayor Steven Fulop and City Council members joined the Department of Infrastructure and community members and organizations Sept. 19 for Bergen Square‘s groundbreaking. Established as the village of Bergen in September 1661, the area is considered New Jersey’s first permanent settlement as well as the site of its first local civil government.

Following the creation of the Bergen Square Committee by the Fulop administration in 2018, work began to amp up the historic identity of the space, located at the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Academy Street, and activate it for the public.

According to the city, improvements slated for Bergen Square include:

• Relocating Public School 11’s bus area for safer, more streamlined school pick-up and drop-off activity.
• Converting surface parking lots into a 5,400-square-foot pedestrian plaza and park space.
• Planting new trees and green infrastructure to increase green space for environmental, physical, recreational and social benefits.
• Improving public bus stops – some of the busiest in the city – with new seating and transit shelters.
• Relocating public parking to Academy Street and converting the street to one-way and adding 14 parking spots.
• Raising the intersection at Bergen Avenue and Academy Street for a safer, continuous pedestrian experience. Designs will mimick the well that once existed at that exact location to provide water to residents and livestock in the mid-1800s.
• Highlighting the area’s rich history through design elements.
• Traditional Lenni Lenape banding design around the perimeter of the square.
• Building a protected cycle track.

“The Journal Square area is an important part of Jersey City’s history and is undergoing an unprecedented renaissance to become one of the most vibrant and exciting places to live, work, and visit in the region,” said Fulop. “This new Bergen Square revitalization project will be a key part of that progress and will help to ensure that Jersey City remains a thriving and vibrant community for years to come.”

Along with private development in the area, Fulop’s administration has made a series of investments in Journal Square with projects including the $100 million restoration of the historic Loew’s Jersey City Theater and the anticipated Centre Pompidou x Jersey City.

“The Journal Square community has been working closely with the City for years to realize the redesign of Bergen Square, and we are all thrilled to break ground on this project,” commented James Dievler, chairman of the Journal Square Community Association History Committee and founding board member of the Museum of Jersey City History at the Apple Tree House. “Since 1660, Bergen Square has been the site of community exchange and cross-cultural interaction. It is wonderful to see it as such again, both in the public consciousness through events such as Bergen Square Day and now through this momentous groundbreaking for the new Bergen Square Plaza.”