In 2009 as part of an effort to spruce up the park the Central Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) removed the park benches and picnic tables and replaced them with metal mesh topped poles.

Some of those who work in the area protested the removal of the benches by the organization as an attempt to limit public accessibility, particular the comfort and availability to use the new seating by the disabled.

The statue commemorates the four companies of the First Provisional Regiment of the 10th Battalion which was located at the nearby Washington Avenue Armory.

A bronze cross on the front is inscribed with "United Spanish War Veterans 1898-1902" and below that the inscription "Erected by the City of Albany July 22, 1928 in Memory of Those Who Served Their Country in the Spanish American War–William S. Hackett John Boyd Thacher 2nd Mayors.

[7][8] Since 2014, the park is also regularly used by Food Not Bombs in Albany during the warmer seasons for free vegan community meals.