When hurricane Sandy ripped through the east cost of the United States in October of 2012, it sent shock waves through the country and left a trail of destruction never before seen. ?In the wake of the storm, a prized American landmark, the Heidelberg Inn, was left tattered and torn. ?Now a transmedia documentary series called The Ghost Town Project is hoping to restore a piece of the Keansburg Amusement Park in New Jersey with an IndieGoGo campaign aimed at rebuilding the Heidelberg Inn.
Taken from The Ghost Town Project website, they describe in their own words what the project is all about:
The Keansburg Amusement Park was devastated during Hurricane Sandy. This marked the fourth time in the park’s 100 year history that it had?almost?become a ghost site.
After three hurricanes and one fire, the owners of this iconic amusement park were more determined than ever to rebuild the park. The Gehlhaus?brothers would not let this part of their family legacy die.
We first connected with the Keansburg gang through their very active Facebook pages. As we could not ?reimagine? or ?restore? an entire amusement park, we had to find one building that would have a special meaning both for the locals and our growing community. The designated place was the Heidelberg Inn ? a 1930’s style hot dog and beer hall.
The tin ceiling and granite tables were still intact, as were the community’s memories of this being the best spot for hot dogs on the Jersey Shore. In early 2013, we visited Keansburg and collected stories and photos from the family who owns the park, from lifelong residents of the area and from concerned citizens and volunteers.
We have brought those collections to life through video and photography.
Jay Williams, the social media manager behind the project explains that “We selected the Heidelberg as the focus of our pilot episode because it represents the very best in American culture and the power of both local and global communities to come together to make positive change in the world,” he said.
The Ghost Town Project has just launched an IndieGoGo campaign that will be raising money for the next 60 days in order to finance the cost of the restoration of the Heidelberg Inn, as well as the production of the pilot for the series. ?In total, six sites will be revitalized and rebuilt with the help of an engaged global community committed to bringing the most interesting, meaningful and sentimental ghost sites back to life for the world to enjoy.
The perks for the fundraiser run from social media shout outs, to books of tickets for the Keansberg Amusement Park, to being included and filmed for the series at the restoration site. ?If that’s not enough, there are even perks where you can own either a photo book of the before and after of the Heidelberg restoration, to owning a piece of a park ride destroyed in the storm.
The Ghost Town Project hopes to raise $60,000 in order to fully fund the restoration of the Heidelberg Inn and the filming of the pilot episode around it, and their IndieGoGo campaign can be found by clicking HERE.
For more information about The Ghost Town Project, you can visit their site at www.theghosttownproject.com.
