Creation and Peak Years
Holy Land USA was conceived by John Baptist Greco, a Waterbury-based attorney. Greco, a Roman Catholic, founded a volunteer organization called Companions of Christ, with the purpose of creating an attraction that would replicate the Bethlehem and Jerusalem of the Biblical era. Bob Chinn, the grounds chairman at Holy Land USA, recalled Greco’s mission in a 2001 interview with The New York Times: "He was a very spiritual man. He wanted to do this for the people of the community. He felt no one, no matter the race, creed or color, should be separated. He wanted a place for all people to sit and be peaceful."
Among the attractions at the site were a recreation of the Garden of Eden, a diorama depicting Daniel in the lions' den, and various recreations of the life and ministry of Jesus. The centerpiece of the site was a 56-foot cross and an illuminated sign that read “Holy Land USA.”
During its peak years in the 1960s and 1970s, Holy Land USA attracted upwards of 40,000 visitors annually. Greco closed Holy Land USA in 1984, with plans to improve and expand the site. But the work was left unfinished when Greco died in 1986. The property was left to the Religious Sisters of Filippini.
The Flaming Lips 1990 music video for "Unconsciously Screamin" from the record "In A Priest Driven Ambulance" was mostly shot at this location by directors Jim Spring and Jens Jurgensen. Outakes from this video shoot were also used in the 2005 documentary on the band called "Fearless Freaks" directed by Bradley Beesley.
Read more about this topic: Holy Land USA
Famous quotes containing the words creation, peak and/or years:
“The creation of “strong-minded” women, so-called, is due to the individualism of men, to the modern selfish and speculative spirit which absorbs everything within itself and leaves women nothing but self-assertion for their protection and support.”
—“Jennie June” Croly 1829–1901, U.S. founder of the woman’s club movement, journalist, author, editor. Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly and Mirror of Fashions, p. 44 (February 1870)
“You know, I often thought that the gangster and the artist are the same in the eyes of the masses. They’re admired and hero-worshipped but there is always present underlying desire to see them destroyed at the peak of their glory.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“Cautiousness in judgment is nowadays to be recommended to each and every one: if we gained only one incontestable truth every ten years from each of our philosophical writers the harvest we reaped would be sufficient.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)