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Newark USA

A fotojournal about LIVING in Newark USA, New Jersey's largest and most cultured city, by the author of the foto-essay website RESURGENCE CITY: Newark USA.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Science High (Old)

My friend Gaetano from the Ironbound sent me a story about a plan by Shaquille O'Neal to create a luxury housing project behind NJPAC on Rector Street in Downtown Newark. Shaq was born in Columbus Hospital in the North Ward, but has to date shown little interest in the revival of his city of birth. Now, he's finally inclined to do something, but not necessarily for the best. You see, the plot he wants to redevelop is presently occupied by Science High School.
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There's a new Sci Hi under construction on Norfolk Street in the Central Ward near UMDNJ, but the old one is still in use. I had been on that block over a year ago, where I noticed the inventively painted Cathedral House nearby. A foto of that building appears near the top of the page of my Resurgence City website titled "
Newark in the Artistic Imagination". I did not at that time notice a high school adjoining. So after work (I work nites), I went by to scope it out.
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It doesn't look like much in the dark except for this bas relief over the main entrance. The colors may be off because of the way cameras see artificial liting. I'll have to go back during the day to get an overview of the place.

[Bas relief, Science High School, Newark, NJ]

Perhaps the building is generally nondescript and can be torn down with no great loss, with only this relief and select other artworks preserved in, perhaps, the new complex. Good architects do sometimes incorporate details from historic structures that once occupied the site.
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Tomorrow I'll show a picture of the new Sci Hi going up a couple of miles away.

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