The plan for the project formerly know as Triangle Park enjoyed its official unveiling today at a Prudential Center press conference overlooking the site of the park, which will be called Mulberry Commons Park. The new park will extend out from the eastern face of the arena, up to and across Newark Penn Station, and up to the edge of Peter Francisco Park in the Ironbound.

A pedestrian bridge connecting downtown with the Ironbound will be a signature feature of the park that has the potential to transform the interaction between the Central Business District and the Ironbound, which until now have been harshly bisected by train tracks. The project will make over a surface parking lot and an empty field, and will indelibly transform the landscape of downtown.

The three-acre park, part of the full Mulberry Commons development which will measure 22 acres in total and represent a more than $100 million financial investment, will be developed by award-winning architectural firm Sage and Coombe. The architectural firm said at a community meeting Tuesday night that they envision the park as a series of “rooms,” or discrete, but connected, areas with their own unique character. They’re targeting late summer 2018 for completion.

Here’s what we learned about the park during a community question-and-answer session that took place yesterday at Prudential Center and during today’s press conference.

The park’s creation will proceed along two phases The park’s creators are looking to break ground in “late spring” of 2017, they said. The first phase will involve the buildout of the area spanning the Prudential Center and Newark Penn Station; the second, which will be split into two parts, will involve the refurbishing of Peter Francisco Park (Phase IIA), which will remain a standalone park, and building the bridge over McCarter Highway, plus a waiting room and connections to Newark Penn Station (Phase IIB).

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