Take an audio tour of Victoria Park's history with new app
The history of Victoria Park in St. John's spans more than a century, and now its stories are being told in a new, interactive way, thanks to some local talent.
Storywalk- Victoria Park is a new mobile app for Apple and Android devices allowing users to hear stories about the park while walking through it. told by people connected to its history.
It's a creative collaboration the Victoria Park Foundation and Chris Brookes, an award-winning audio producer and the owner of Battery Radio in St. John's.
"As you pass different areas, different locations, different spots in the park, it will give a little ding and it will play you something that happened at that spot," Brookes said.
"Somebody's memory of what happened there, an experience they had."
The app uses a phone's location services feature to tell where walkers are in the park, and then plays audio clips automatically when passing a point of interest.
For those unable to visit the park, the experience can also be had remotely through what Brookes calls "armchair mode."
"There's a map on your screen, and you see the map with all these little dots on it. Touch one of the dots and it will play the story," he told CBC Radio's Weekend AM..
Actor and comedian Mark Critch, who also serves as campaign chair of the Victoria Park Foundation, said the app serves as another way to share the history of the park.
He said the project was partially inspired by the 100 Portraits of the Great War monument by sculptor Morgan MacDonald that sits in the park, a piece that captures the faces of 100 descendants of soldiers of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
"One of the things that drew us to this idea was the opportunity for people to punch on a photograph, pick one of those faces. Then hear that person who is representing their ancestor tell their story," Critch said.
The combination of technology and Brookes' talent made the project come to life, he said.
The best guides? The locals
Over the course of the app's development, Both Critch and Brookes said they learned of never-before-heard stories about the park as people in the neighbourhood shared childhood experiences.
"You might not know their names, but they are the best people to walk you through that place," Critch said.
"They are the ones who have fallen on those rocks and bled, they are the ones who got engaged at the park who fell in love at the park. Who swung on those swings and then pushed their children and grandchildren on those swings. When you use this app, you really do become part of the community and part of the neighbourhood."
Brookes likened it to a can opener, peeling the lid off the landscape with stories inside.
"There's all these things that you can see, but what you don't get to experience is the sort of layer of human experience," Brookes said.
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