WESTWOOD—Westwood’s Historic Preservation Commission is looking to make the Central Business District’s history come alive using an app that provides sound and archived photos to highlight local history in a self-guided tour that residents can access on a cell phone.
The Historic Preservation Commission has applied for a second state Historic Trust Fund grant to create the second installment of an interactive digital downtown district history tour. Its first such grant was received in 2021.
On May 16, the governing body unanimously approved a grant application for $5,000 in state funding to create another digital module to reveal the downtown district’s history. It is not a matching grant.
Councilwoman Beth Dell said she was not aware of any other Pascack Valley municipality that uses the travel story app travelstorys.com to help highlight its community’s history.
She said the first module created using the app cost about $5,750 to create and details a “Journey Down Broadway Avenue.”
The first Broadway installment can be found at travelstorys.com/tours/journey-down-broadway-avenue.
A writeup on the app’s Westwood tour site says, “This tour explores the history of business development on one block of Westwood’s Broadway avenue. On this tour, you will visit several stops on your way to the heart of downtown Westwood, at the intersection of Broadway and Westwood Avenues. Learn about the bold spirit, work ethic, and local innovation that inspired Broadway’s development. This ethos is still present today in the heart of downtown Westwood.”
Dell noted that using the app to illustrate local history “was a great effort initiated by Lauren Letizia, then chairperson of the HPC. The project was finalized with a labor of love by Camille Sasena who took over the reins of the HPC and assumed the role when Lauren vacated to assist Westwood’s Land Use on the Zoning Board.”
Dell said, “We are working on getting someone filmed utilizing the app as requested by WCTV. It’s a great presentation showcasing the history of business development of downtown Westwood. It’s an immersive experience that provides an encounter with the past while informing our present (and) it fulfills a goal of historic preservation.”
She said the HPC is discussing what section of Westwood to highlight next using the app if the state grant is received