History lessons

The Town of Paradise is developing a new mobile app which will allow residents to take a walk through time in the town.

The app, which is under development by town staff, will use location technology to identify a user’s position in the community and provide them with any historic information related to their current area. Councillor Sterling Willis, Paradise town council’s resident historian, played a large role in collecting information and stories for the new app.

“What we’re doing is identifying the old historic sites in Paradise, and the history of the Town over the years,” said Willis.

The councillor said the town has a rich and vibrant history which some residents may be unaware of. He is hoping the app will preserve the stories of the town’s yesteryear, such as the old Acan Windows location, which went through a number of different industrial iterations long before the current plans to develop a commercial business area at the location.

Willis also pointed to an old train track area in the town — which was originally heavily wooded before being settled — as something else worth remembering within Paradise.

“When people first came here there was nothing here,” said Willis. “This is all part of the history (and) and the app will give you all of this (information) as you walk around the town.”

Willis said while he has contributed a significant amount of information for the project, the Town did receive a grant to hire a student to interview older residents and dig into the town’s rich history for information in the new program. The app is still under development, with no current plans for the unveiling as of yet. Willis noted the importance of preserving the stories of the town’s past.

“There’s a lot of information from the older residents of the town who have long since passed on,” said Willis. “People would never know what went on here…I know I’m going to be happy when it’s done.”

By Kyle ReidParadise developing a phone app
to document is past