Walking Tour Speakers:
Anne Englot joined Rutgers University – Newark in 2014 as Professor of Practice in Architecture & Humanities in the Arts, Culture & Media Department. She teaches courses on the city and architectural history, she has been instrumental in shaping key university—community initiatives including the Express Newark: University Community Collaboratory in the former Hahne & Company department store. Prior to Rutgers, she was a Professor of Architectural Studies & Design at Morrisville State College earning the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; and a visiting professor in the Syracuse University School of Architecture during Fall 2013. She has an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in the Humanities and a Master of Architecture from Syracuse University; a BA in French and Studio Art from Binghamton University. Her latest publication is “Situating Jerusalem: Poiesis And Techne In The American Urbanism Of Jemima Wilkinson And Thomas Jefferson” in Building the Kingdom: Architecture for Religious Communities (forthcoming).
Courtenay D. Mercer, PP, AICP is the Principal of Mercer Planning Associates, a boutique land use planning firm specializing in strategic community engagement. With substantial public and non-profit sector experience, Mercer has overseen diverse and complex projects, and with all types of communities. She has also played key roles in legislative and regulatory processes. Recent project work includes management of the Highlands Regional Master Plan up-date, stakeholder coordination for the Together North Jersey Local Demonstration Project program, and completion of a Complete Streets Circulation Element for Woolwich Township. Mercer recently took on the role of Director for Preservation New Jersey, capitalizing on her past experience on the Board of a historic house museum, as well as historic preservation experience utilizing transfer of development rights, adaptive reuse redevelopment, and other planning techniques.
Linda Morgan is Vice President of Project Partnerships and External Affairs at the real estate development firm RBH Group located in Newark, NJ. Ms. Morgan has over 25 years’ experience in urban planning, brownfields redevelopment, policy analysis, and project management of complex redevelopment initiatives in the New York-New Jersey region. Representative projects include the Teachers Village and AeroFarms/Makers Village projects in downtown Newark, the Jersey Gardens Mall and Bayonne golf course brownfield redevelopments, and policy analysis for the Center for Collaborative Change’s Strong, Healthy Communities Project in Newark. In her former role as Director of the NJ Office of Regional Plan Association, Ms. Morgan spearheaded creation of the Newark Downtown District business improvement district and the Lincoln Park Arts District. Ms. Morgan holds a BA in Government from Smith College and an MPA in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. She is active in community affairs and serves on several advisory boards.
Ulana Zakalak, an award winning historic preservationist and adaptive reuse specialist, is principal of Zakalak Associates, LLC and Zakalak Restoration Arts LLC, with offices in Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey, and provides restoration services and preservation consulting for public, corporate and private clients. Since starting her consulting practice over twenty-five years ago, Ms. Zakalak has gained a reputation for her documentation and preservation of urban sites, in particular the built environment of the City of Newark. While working for the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee (NPLC), Zakalak was successful in qualifying prominent historic sites for acceptance to the New Jersey State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the Forest Hill, Weequahic Park, Military Park and Four Corners Historic Districts as well as countless individual historic sites. She is the tax credit consultant for some of the most prominent projects in Newark, including the Hahne and Company building, the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company Headquarters, the St. Francis Hotel and St. Michael’s Hospital. Ms. Zakalak is also the author of the Historic Preservation Element of the new Newark Master Plan.