Mark McEachern, Executive Director of the Torrington Historical Society, and Stephen Warshaw, Marketing Consultant to the City of Torrington, jointly announced today that the Society has received a heritage grant in support of “A Walking Tour of Downtown Torrington’s National Register Historic District”.
This funding was made possible by a collaborative grant made to the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut by the Connecticut Humanities Council. The balance of the requisite funding will be provided by the Office of Economic Development and corporate sponsorships. The our is expected to be readied by early Fall, 2013.
McEachern remarked, "The Torrington Historical Society builds a sense of community and a foundation for the future through the preservation and understanding of our shared past. We do this by actively pursuing and promoting opportunities to inspire an appreciation of local history through our various programs, exhibits and Torrington related collections. One great example is the walking tour that we have already developed. But, it’s self-guided, and lacks a multi-media component to ‘bring history to life’. This grant will help us do just that.”
Warshaw continued, “Once we coined our rallying cry of, ‘It’s Happening Here!’, I immediately realized that it was all made possible by things that had already happened here. So, as we bring new attention and new visitors to Torrington, we want to make sure that we don’t overlook the past, but rather--create ways to link the past and the present.
This joint effort will help us accomplish that mission, and do it in a way that also takes advantage of technology to make it both more accessible and, in a way, more ‘relevant’ to wider (demographic) audiences”. Warshaw continued that he will work closely with McEachern to script narratives about the over-20 different historic and culturally significant landmarks in downtown Torrington.
Those will be professionally copy-written and recorded by award-winning voice-over artist Jill Connolly, who--among other things--is a signature voice for Boston’s Public Radio station, WGBH. Connolly actually collaborated with McEachern and Warshaw on the grant proposal by writing and reading a sample narrative that garnered the favor of the grant review committee.
Each site will feature a “quick response” (QR) code on the outside of the building, which in turn will allow
members of a walking tour to use their smartphones (together with a free application) to scan the code to instantly hear the history of the site and/or building.
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Incorporated in 1944, the Torrington Historical Society is a non-profit educational institution that has been collecting and preserving Torrington’s history for nearly 70 years. Since 1956, the Society has operated the Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum, one of downtown Torrington’s important attractions, and one of Connecticut’s best “house museums”. The historical society museum features two award-winning exhibits on both the history of Torrington and the Hendey Machine Company.
“It’s Happening Here!” was made possible through an "Arts Catalyst Placemaking" grant created and funded by the Connecticut Office of the Arts. The grant will further enable the City to create a micro-grant program for emerging artists and programs; establish a downtown Torrington arts district; undertake various vacancy treatments for empty storefronts; and create and leverage ways to actively fill those storefronts with viable merchants and businesses.
Torrington is a former mill town along the Naugatuck River Valley, and is the largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the Litchfield Hills region. It is also the core city of the largest micropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 36,383--according to the 2010 census.
McEachern remarked, "The Torrington Historical Society builds a sense of community and a foundation for the future through the preservation and understanding of our shared past. We do this by actively pursuing and promoting opportunities to inspire an appreciation of local history through our various programs, exhibits and Torrington related collections. One great example is the walking tour that we have already developed. But, it’s self-guided, and lacks a multi-media component to ‘bring history to life’. This grant will help us do just that.”
Warshaw continued, “Once we coined our rallying cry of, ‘It’s Happening Here!’, I immediately realized that it was all made possible by things that had already happened here. So, as we bring new attention and new visitors to Torrington, we want to make sure that we don’t overlook the past, but rather--create ways to link the past and the present.
This joint effort will help us accomplish that mission, and do it in a way that also takes advantage of technology to make it both more accessible and, in a way, more ‘relevant’ to wider (demographic) audiences”. Warshaw continued that he will work closely with McEachern to script narratives about the over-20 different historic and culturally significant landmarks in downtown Torrington.
Those will be professionally copy-written and recorded by award-winning voice-over artist Jill Connolly, who--among other things--is a signature voice for Boston’s Public Radio station, WGBH. Connolly actually collaborated with McEachern and Warshaw on the grant proposal by writing and reading a sample narrative that garnered the favor of the grant review committee.
Each site will feature a “quick response” (QR) code on the outside of the building, which in turn will allow
members of a walking tour to use their smartphones (together with a free application) to scan the code to instantly hear the history of the site and/or building.
###
Incorporated in 1944, the Torrington Historical Society is a non-profit educational institution that has been collecting and preserving Torrington’s history for nearly 70 years. Since 1956, the Society has operated the Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum, one of downtown Torrington’s important attractions, and one of Connecticut’s best “house museums”. The historical society museum features two award-winning exhibits on both the history of Torrington and the Hendey Machine Company.
“It’s Happening Here!” was made possible through an "Arts Catalyst Placemaking" grant created and funded by the Connecticut Office of the Arts. The grant will further enable the City to create a micro-grant program for emerging artists and programs; establish a downtown Torrington arts district; undertake various vacancy treatments for empty storefronts; and create and leverage ways to actively fill those storefronts with viable merchants and businesses.
Torrington is a former mill town along the Naugatuck River Valley, and is the largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the Litchfield Hills region. It is also the core city of the largest micropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 36,383--according to the 2010 census.
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