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Buildings can’t speak — unless they have some help. This fall, some of Jersey City’s will come alive through [murmur], an audio documentary project that allows local residents to pass on stories of their communities in the form of a walking tour. Begun in Toronto, the project has since expanded to cities and towns around the world, including nearby Orange.

Jersey City’s [murmur] will for now focus on Ward F and be led by high school students from neighborhood schools. The teens will choose the sites to be featured, and interview and record local residents whose stories will drive the tour. Sites will be identified with a green ear sign that includes a phone number and access code people can call on their cell phones to hear the stories on the spot.

The program is coming to Jersey City via Brooke Hansson, a program administrator/researcher at the Friends of the Lifers Youth Corp., a Jersey City nonprofit serving ex-offenders and at-risk youth. Hansson, a recent graduate of the New School for Urban Policy, won a grant for [murmur] from the New Jersey Governor’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee and will act as the students’ guide. She will raise more funds for the project Wednesday, June 29 at Bistro La Source — her goal is $16,000 and raffle prizes include Mets tickets and gift certificates to Jersey City businesses like Edward’s Steak House, Tommy Two Scoops, Madame Claude Cafe and Balance Salon.

“What [murmur] does is transform a space into something magical,” says Hansson, who grew up in Elizabeth and lives in Paulus Hook. “Buildings aren’t just brick — they play a part in our identity.”

Hansson plans to model [murmur] Jersey City after [murmur] Orange, which was organized by Jersey City resident Molly Rose Kaufman. Stories will be a minute and a half to two minutes long; the students will do most of the story collecting in July and the program will continue through August into early September with editing and the planning of a kick-off event.

Hansson would like to eventually do this every year in a different neighborhood, “and populate the city with green ears.”

THE DETAILS

The [murmur] Jersey City fundraiser will be held Wed., June 29 at Bistro La Source, 85 Morris Street, from 6 to 10 pm. For more information on the project, click here.