Holy Land USA is an 18 acre park in Waterbury, CT representing a miniature Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was one of Connecticut’s biggest tourist attractions in the 1960s and 1970s with 50,000 visitors per year. Holy Land was built in the 1950s by John Baptist Greco (a Waterbury lawyer). The 50' cross was designed and built by Frank Veto Lyman in 1956. It was replaced in 1968. The cross was once lit up purple for Lent and red for the Christmas season. Holy Land closed in 1984 and the plaster, wire caves and structures are now in miserable shape. Some local residents want the place restored while others want it razed and turned into a park. The cross, which is highly visible from I-84, will be replaced in 2008. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

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