One of the things I frequently hear when people come to Maplewood and South Orange for the first time is that they’re taken by how charming the downtowns are. They’re places where you can stroll from store to store, stop in for a bite to eat, and where you’re likely to see neighbors and friends as you run your afternoon errands. Our parks and plazas add to that sense of place and connection to our community, providing spots to sit and read a book, enjoy some ice cream, have a cup of coffee, or just relax with our friends (or a dog!) and do some people-watching.
In 2023, the Maplewood Village Alliance applied for a grant to beautify and upgrade one of our community’s popular public spaces: Baker Square. This project was spurred by requests from residents of all ages for more communal seating areas and a flexible space to host programming like student poetry readings, acoustic music performances, or African drumming events.
Photographs by Mason Levinson, The Maplewood Foundation, and Maplewood Village Alliance
With a grant of $10,000, The Maplewood Foundation enabled the Maplewood Village Alliance to complete the glow-up of Baker Square. The project not only created a more attractive and usable space, but also kept a focus on environmental sustainability – using teak for the wooden benches that require minimal maintenance or chemicals, installing a substantial permeable surface and managing water run-off, and planting new native trees and shrubs to replace invasive growths and help absorb rainfall.
“People in Maplewood were looking for more community gathering spaces and places to get together,” says Maplewood Village Alliance president Amy Howlett. “And two of our board members, Aileen Binder and John James, saw that this area was greatly underutilized. It was full of invasive plants and poison ivy, just overgrown and weedy. And so they had a vision to replace the overgrown plantings with native shrubs, increase the usable area and benches, and just make this beautiful gathering space. Now, every time I go into the Village, I see people using it. And we could not have gotten it done without the grant we received from The Maplewood Foundation.”
Thank you for helping us support the Maplewood Village Alliance in enhancing Baker Square. Your generous contributions to The Maplewood Foundation allow us to fund projects like this, making sure that we have places to gather and appreciate the things that make our community so special.
Find out more and donate here: https://themaplewoodfoundation.org/
