SALEM — A new community group formed to help care for and activate Charlotte Forten Park is searching for community feedback on visions and potential programming for the waterfront space.
“Friends of Forten Park,” a volunteer group unaffiliated with the city, has released a survey to gauge community interest in ideas for events such as live music, movie nights, yoga and artisan markets, as well as potential partnerships or volunteer interests to transform the park into a community gathering space.
Resident Jonathan Berk, currently the sole organizer of Friends of Forten Park, is hoping that the group will become a conduit between the city, businesses and residents to share their concepts for how to turn the park into an inclusive and active community space.
“Hopefully this can serve as a catalyst for other folks that are interested in seeing things happen here, to really gather together and bring this space back into what it should be, which is a community space for connecting, gathering, hosting events, and just enjoying a day in downtown Salem,” Berk said.
Featuring a waterfront plaza, river walk, swings, and the “Moving Spirit of Love” memorial — a life-sized bronze memorial in honor of Charlotte Forten Grimké of the Salem High School Class of 1854, created by artist Ai Qiu Hopen of Humanity Memorial Inc.
Previously called the “carnival lot,” the city council voted in 2019 to change the name of the park at 289 Derby St. to Charlotte Forten Park following an online poll.
Forten, an abolitionist, educator, writer, poet, translator, and women’s rights activist, was Salem State’s first African American graduate. Forten spent her life tirelessly advocating for the end of slavery, equality for women and people of color, and education for all.
The city contracted the Anthem Group starting in 2024 to provide free community programs, markets, games and performances. The Anthem Group had since activated the space with live music, comedy nights and larger scale events such as the Frozen Fire Festival in December with igloos, fire performances and artisan shops.
The initial rollout of the Anthem Group’s programming ran into problems such as troubleshooting the local permitting process, and an electrical upgrade project which took longer than anticipated.
Once regular weekend programming began, some community members complained of a feeling of inaccessibility, such as the lack of seating and wrap-around fencing creating a sense that it was a private space despite being open to the public with a lack of ability to passively use the park, according to Berk.
With the contract concluding at the end of 2025, the city chose not to renew its contract with the Anthem Group based on feedback from the community, and the idea that more community-driven activations of the space would create more interest.
“It’s a really special place with a lot of opportunity, so we wanted to give it another shot with a different approach,” Mayor Dominick Pangallo said. “We’re hoping to be able to have more activations and a lot of community participation in those. One of the ways we’re approaching that is by using a very similar model to what we have at Derby Square with the plaza permits, so there’s opportunities for community groups, surrounding businesses, and people to activate the space with their own ideas in a variety of ways.”
Initial ideas proposed to Berk have included free community fitness classes, movie nights, concerts, markets, and art events such as knitting nights.
Alongside areas to submit ideas for programming and ideas for business partnerships, the survey also asks for individuals who may be interested in supporting the new community group through planning to brainstorm future events, operations to assist with event setup and breakdown, cleanup, and “park ambassadors” to educate and share the history of Charlotte Forten’s story.
The Google Forms survey is available at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHyKDj6pH154_rMZ3ukmKBRpa8q3gc10tRFoRSU1OQx5iREQ/formResponse. Those interested in volunteering can also reach out to the Friends of Forten Park Instagram page at instagram.com/friendsoffortenpark.
Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202