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Neighborhood Guides > Union City > Noteworthy landmarks
Noteworthy landmarks
St. Michael’s Monastery Church. Photo by Allan Weitz.
Saint Michael’s Monastery & Church The largest Roman Catholic church in Hudson County, the grounds of St. Michael’s Monastery are located between 21st and 18th Streets, between Summit Avenue and West Street. It was built in 1869. Due to lack of finances, the entire complex was closed in 1981, and Saint Michael’s Parish merged with nearby Saint Joseph’s Parish, whose school and church were on the corner of Central Avenue at 14th Street, becoming Saint Joseph and Michael’s Parish. (That school later closed following the graduation of its 1986, and was rebuilt in 2005 as Veterans Memorial School.) The monastery and church were purchased by a Korean Presbyterian congregation from Palisades Park, who maintain it to this day. In its lifetime, the church/monastery has survived two fires, one in 1934 that nearly destroyed it (after which it was rebuilt), and another in August 1994 that destroyed the actual monastery section behind the church, and the third of three condominium buildings built adjacent to it. The surrounding park grounds, which had been used in the past for sports activities by citizens, were sold, and are now occupied by two condominium buildings, a low-to-moderate income housing complex that replaced the portion of the monastery destroyed by fire in 1994, and the José Martí Middle School, which was completed in late 2004, along with a new public library housed in the same building. The school’s Field House and Turf Fields are currently under construction.
Park Performing Arts Center Located at 560 32nd Street, the Center was built in 1931 by the German congregation of a Catholic parish to house their cultural and educational programs. Its most outstanding feature is the Park Theater, which seats 1,400 people. It belongs to Holy Family Church and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, and was incorporated in 1983 as a non-profit arts center dedicated to presenting and producing programs for the surrounding communities. It is identified as "the only institution in the County solely dedicated to the performing arts" by the Hudson County Urban Complex Strategic Revitalization Plan. It has featured performers such as Johnny Cash and George Carlin. One of the most noteworthy events to have taken place at Park Theater occurred in 1986 when Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. filmed their groundbreaking video for their single Walk This Way. The theater is currently administered by Father Kevin Ashe. An addition was built to the theater in 2000. The theater’s two most well-known events are the annual Multi-Arts Festival and the annual Passion play.
The Multi-Arts Festival is an exhibition of artwork, musical performances and workshops held every May since 1981, in which students and alumni of the various schools of Union City display their artwork, put on musical performances in the Park Theater, and put on free demonstrations of sculpture, portraiture and caricature for attendees. It was organized by Chairperson Agnes Dauerman, a Union Hill High School art teacher, for 25 years before she retired in 2005.
The Park Theater's Passion play made headlines in March 1997 when a black actor, Desi Arnaz Giles, was cast to play the part of Jesus Christ. This created an uproar that resulted in death threats directed at the theater, and as a result, cancellations by five tour groups. The theater also received hundreds of calls and faxes from around the world expressing support, and Daniel Quinn, assistant director of the play, opined that reaction to the play was 99% positive. Ticket sales actually increased as a result of the controversy, which was covered in the New York Post, and the opening day’s audience of 700 gave Giles a standing ovation for his portrayal of Jesus. The play was also attended by noted conservative political strategist Ralph Reed in April of that year.
The former Roosevelt Stadium in Union City.
Roosevelt Stadium This sporting arena (not to be confused with Jersey City, New Jersey's Roosevelt Stadium) opened November 25, 1937 as part of the New Deal's federally-funded Works Progress Administration Project. Originally the site of the Hudson County Consumers Brewery Company, the art deco [8] stadium was bounded on the east by Summit Avenue and on the west by Kerrigan Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard between 24th and 26th Streets. Roosevelt Stadium stood 15 rows deep, seated 18,000 people, and housed events in football, soccer, |track, boxing, and semi-pro baseball, as well as numerous special events, from carnivals and Fourth of July fireworks shows to an exhibition baseball game featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The stadium’s most noteworthy annual event was the Thanksgiving football “Turkey Game,” held since 1919 between rivals Emerson High School’s Bulldogs and Union Hill High School’s Hillers. Its last Turkey Game took place on November 25, 2004, with Emerson victorious 21-0. It was demolished in the fall of 2005 to make way for the new Union City High School and Athletic Complex, which is scheduled for completion in September 2008.
Emerson High School Named for writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson High School, home to the Bulldogs, was opened in April 1915 as West Hoboken High School. Located on New York Avenue at 18th Street, the school’s most unique physical feature is the bridge that connects the original building with the gym building across the street, which was built in the 1980s, allowing students to cross New York Avenue from one building to the other on the second floor. A new high school that was to be the new Emerson High School will be completed in September 2008 on the site of the former Roosevelt Stadium, though it was decided to name it Union City High School, as a merger of both Emerson and Union Hill High School. The the old Emerson H.S. will become a junior high school for grades 7 - 9.
15th Street Library Situated between Bergenline Avenue and New York Avenue, this library was built in 1904 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie. It boasts original stained glass and is considered by many to be of landmark quality. The library was closed in 2004 upon the completion of a new library on the corner of Summit Avenue and 18th Street, housed in the same building as the new José Martí Middle School.
Tribute to Cuban-American salsa singer Celia Cruz, and other Latin stars.
Celia Cruz Park (also known as Celia Cruz Plaza) On June 4, 2003, nearly a year after the death of Cuban-American salsa singer Celia Cruz (who lived in nearby Fort Lee), Union City heralded its annual Cuban Day Parade by dedicating its new Celia Cruz Park at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue, with Cruz's widower, Pedro Knight, present. The park featured a sidewalk star in Cruz's honor, and an 8' x 10' mural by Union City's Edgardo Davila, a collage of Cruz's career throughout the decades. There are four other similar dedications to Cruz around the world[9]. Stars were later added to the park in honor of Tito Puente, Spanish language television news anchor Rafael Pineda, salsa pioneer and Johnny Pacheco. The park was again refurbished by the Latin American Kiwanis Club in early June 2006. The mural was replaced with a backlit photograph of Cruz, and four more stars were added in honor of merengue singer Joseíto Mateo, salsa singer La India, Cuban musician Israel "Cachao" Lopez, and Cuban tenor Beny Moré.
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