Precious Places Compilation Price:

This video is available for purchase as part of a Precious Places Community History Project Vol.2 compilation DVD.

Higher Education Institutions DVD | $139.00
K-12, Public Libraries & Select Groups DVD | $79.00
Home Video DVD License – Restrictions Apply DVD | $20.00

Scribe Video Center Program:

The Precious Places Community History Project is a community oral history project inviting members of the Philadelphia region's many neighborhoods to document the buildings, public spaces, parks, landmarks and other sites that hold the memories of our communities and define where we live. Precious Places teaches the video production process to participating groups, fostering projects authored by those who intimately know the featured neighborhoods.

Production Facilitator: Anula Shetty and Q. Quintero

Humanities Consultant: Furqan Khaldun

Film Story:

Videotaped by 5 youth from the neighborhood, Nuestra Voz, Nuetra Perspectiva--"our voice, our views"--tells the history of Jose Collazo Park through residents and members of the Hispanic Association of Contractors and Enterprises. The park is the fruit of collaboration between neighbors and this local development organization, which in 1995 created, with community input, a 10 year, $70 million strategic plan to promote community revitalization through projects like affordable housing and business development. The area has come a long way: it was once known for abandoned factories and vacant lots, and Jose Collazo Park itself is named for a young boy from the neighborhood who was murdered by the infamous "shoemaker" serial killers. The park dedicated to him was initiated by local residents and is a living testament to the neighborhood's long-term commitment to its youth. "Young people need a way to let out their energy in the form of recreation," says HACE President Guillermo (Bill) Salas, Jr., who explains that parks like this one often fill the gap created by the shortage of quality school programs in this city. Once little more than a weed-grown "hole in the ground," Jose Collazo Park now sports a playground, handball and basketball courts and is regularly cleaned by neighbors who appreciate the new-found beauty of the location.

Film Stills:

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