Film weaves threads of York, baseball, stadium and neighborhood change
This image reflects themes from the upcoming documentary “Home,” a documentary on York,Pa., and its new baseball stadium, Sovereign Bank Stadium. The film will premier in York at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 25 at York College, followed by a question-and-answer session with producer Brian Plow. Background posts: York had Brooks Robinson statue. Where’s Baltimore’s, Season 2 of York’s long comeback campaign and New baseball diamond serves as York cornerstone.
Filmmaker Brian Plow is bringing together the wide-ranging topics of baseball, economic development and those displaced by York’s new stadium in an upcoming documentary.
The producer, a Towson University film professor, spent hours in York researching these themes.
York College’s Humanities Film Series will be the vehicle to introduce the documentary called “Home.” …
If the film’s description is any indication, the documentary should be thought provoking. The premier is open to the public, and the producer will be there to field those thoughts.
Here’s that description:
York, Pennsylvania has long been the quintessential, salt-of-the-earth American town, touting a proud cultural, architectural and industrial history. But after a steady migration to the suburbs that began in the 1950s, poverty, crime and blight have become the city’s current hallmarks, straining its finances, tarnishing its image and demoralizing its citizenry.
In the midst of these challenges, some have sought a revolution in York – an economic revolution. When municipal, county and area business leaders unveiled a plan to level part of a low-income, residential neighborhood and build a minor league stadium, promising it to be the catalyst behind millions in urban redevelopment, who could argue?
But what happened to those who lived in this neighborhood and made way for the stadium? Houses are built with wood and nails, brick and mortar. Homes, however, are built over time with family and memories; they are deeply associated with our sense of self and security. How are these intangible values assessed when one is compelled to move?
In order to find out, Brian Plow, an Assistant Professor of Electronic Media and Film at Towson University, produced and directed Home (2008), a documentary that examines the story of baseball, urban redevelopment and the human cost of bringing them to York… .
