A young filmmaker's clever no-budget video is putting the potential demolition of Bellmawr's Hugg-Harrison-Glover house in historical context.
And it's not a pretty picture.
Clocking in at just 77 seconds, the video uses then-and-now images of several sites in Bellmawr, a working-class Camden County suburb of 11,400. Filmmaker Adin Mickle alternates between period photographs of vanished landmarks such as the Bell Farm, Dobb's Farm and the Kay House, and current views of the same locations.
Distinctive structures that lent Bellmawr a sense of place have given way to rather standard suburban development; Hugg-Harrison-Glover, whose owner was a significant Revolutionary War figure, is in the path of the I-295/Route 42 "Direct Connection"project.
"I hope to energize people to see the house as a resource that should be preserved," says Mickle, 29, of Gloucester Township. He finished and uploaded his "Save the Hugg Harrison Glover House: Memories" video to YouTube earlier this week, after attending a strategy session of a grassroots group called "Save the Hugg House!"
And he has ideas for additional spots as well.
"You can't tell this story with just one video," Mickle says.