Address:  152 Delsea Dr S, Glassboro, NJ 08028

Coordinates: Latitude: 39.689813 | Longitude: -75.100914


The imagined mural is located at Glassboro’s South Delsea Drive park, on the side of the George Johnson Senior Fieldhouse. The park serves as a locale for a variety of different cultural groups. On one hand, there are baseball and football fields that bring together large groups of friends and family for the community recreational leagues. On the other hand, there is a walking path that could be used by someone seeking personal outdoor leisure. Although most would consider the park to be one of the more natural sections of Glassboro, a closer look reveals much of the grounds are a built environment. Besides the previously mentioned sports fields, the paved walkway, benches, and even the younger trees (likely planted recently by humans) are also all part of the built environment. 

Our mural and its location is related to environmental processes on multiple geographic scales. The South Delsea Drive park and Glassboro parks in general have positive effects on the global environment. For example, they protect plant life that contributes to the global environment in ways like oxygen production. However, there are still less visible, negative effects the parks have. Many people drive their cars to parks, which can lead to trace chains of pollution that have a large negative impact on the environment. At the local level, the parks also have varying effects. On one hand, they provide a habitat to a variety of animals that otherwise would not exist. But, on the other hand, the parks are heavily influenced by humans; their actions control the types of plants and animals that can live there. For example, the parks could be home to a certain type of tree species now that was foreign to the area until planted by humans. In turn, these new trees could have attracted a new species of animal, causing even more of a transformation in the park’s ecosystem. Overall, even in the efforts to preserve the environment, human actions have unintended consequences. As a result, it is important that in any major action taken that humans examine the environmental effects they are causing on all geographic scales. 

At our estimated measurements of about 22 X17 feet and $20 per square foot, the mural projects to cost around $7,500. Although on the expensive side for something so small, it would contribute greatly to the community. As previously covered, Glassboro parks were the home to much of the town’s controversial history. This history, despite its significance, is not well known to most of the town’s residents. By creating our mural, these stories could be brought to light in a positive way. It would show how the town evolved from some of its more negative practices to create something positive. With the mural, a small plaque (of around $100) could be commissioned that would tell these stories further. Glassboro citizens could read about the German labor camp, the Runland Park fire, or the Lapari Landfill and see how their town has taken ownership over itself. It would serve as a reminder that even through past mistakes, it should always be the goal of society to keep moving forward.