Allentown doesn't have much of a political memory. The Morning Call changes out its reporters about every 6 months, and most political activists eventually have lobotomies out of frustration. Never the less, some of you may remember Heydt's hole. After he torn down Hess's, the hole sat there for 18 months while a group of investors failed to find financing for a amateur hockey arena. (The one built later in Bethlehem folded and now is for sale) Now, eight years later, Pawlowski has a hole. Announced with great fanfare, a local developer would build the Cosmopolitan on the site of Sal's Spaghetti House. It makes me nervous when they name a restaurant before they built it. Anyway, Pawlowski bought Sal's, and the city paid for the demolition.(Through one of its Authorities) Then the city gave the Cosmopolitan a $50,000 restaurant grant. Yes, we gave a brick-less name $50,000. I think some of the city puff bloggers were even making reservations for dinner. Back to the hole; as a sidewalk supervisor I was surprised to see the excavators dig under the adjoining Sovereign Building and pour pylons under its footers. Perhaps they were mining, mining for grants. Those pylons have enabled the developer to remove his equipment. and let that hole sit there now for over two months, with no danger to the adjoining building. I'd say about $50,000 worth of work has been done. Last month the city applied for a low cost Liquor License for the Cosmopolitan. Last week, after the Pawlowski Administration had an embarrassing "no comment" in regard to Johnny Manana's, a backhoe was moved back to outside the Cosmopolitan site. Is that backhoe a Pawlowski Prop? Does the developer sense the time is ripe for renewed grants? Does Pawlowski need a new ribbon to cut? *
* There could be legitimate reasons why construction has halted on the Cosmopolitan. However, last month the developer's attorney declined to comment on an explanation.
Nicely done, MM. These are excellent questions that deserve to be answered.
ReplyDeleteOk, so the post basically says MM is wonder what is going on with the Cosmo. Some news would be nice.
ReplyDeleteanon 12:14, over a month ago the attorney for the developer declined comment to the Morning Call when asked why no work had taken place for a month. now, no work has taken place for over two months, but i provided a insight and speculation on an unusual construction technique utilized. let me remind you that two weeks ago all city personnel, including the mayor, referred comment to the city spokesman on johnny manana, and he declined comment. so you demand hard news from an indy blogger, but not from the newspaper or city administration?
ReplyDeletePerhaps this would be a good story for that new "watchdog reporter" to investigate.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited about making the "Cosmo" scene ;D. Check out the artist's rendering.
http://www.ourcosmopolitan
.com/
It says "The Dream" is coming late 2008. Really?
Micheal,
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the nice pictures on the web site we got for our $50,000 in addition to the hole in the ground.
Thanks to Ms Dottie for the link to the nice pictures!
How about a koi pond instead of a 5 story restaurant?
Sorry,
ReplyDeleteMrs. Dottie, not Ms.
No offense intended!
Bill,
ReplyDeleteThat's okay, Mrs. Dottie is a pre-feminist movement woman, but she's not offended.
The link is from Pete Lewnes 7th St. Now blog. Go to older posts.
That hole has been there for a damn long time. Same with the county bridges on Linden St and in the Lehigh Parkway. What's the delay? Did all construction companies flee the county?
ReplyDeleteOn the Parkway bridge - I actually did see work being done there today for the first time since they closed the bridge two months ago. It's about time...
The miserable economy has got to play a role in some of this. Banks failing, new home construction is down again, companies going bankrupt left and right. I would call this "W's hole"
ReplyDeletehow about "A" hole for apologist. according to the hype 5 months ago this developer needed no grants and was recession proof. i hope this developer does resume work, here's why. there was nothing wrong with the Sal's building. Mendleson has put a new roof on the building several years ago, and it was structurally sound. previous to this current developer, the city contractor had the option and was going to remodel the existing building. unknown to the public, a "real" private money developer, a business associate of mine, wanted to buy the building from mendelson and remodel it. this deal cut out those connected to the city, and was highjacked by city red-tape.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Did I just get called an asshole!? I'm not sure how I'm an apologist, I just think there is a national economic crisis unlinked to your nemesis.
ReplyDeleteanon 8:10, let me be the apologist for my choice of words. as i said on my post script, there may well be a legitimate reason for the delay, but the downturn wouldn't be one of them. this was hyped as very upscale with a waiting demand; part of the arts district, we even built a parking deck. there is already a couple hundred thousand dollars of public money in that hole, hopefully the taxpayers will get an update.
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:42 pm (8/4):
ReplyDeleteWhy should it be called W's hole?
I don't remember any local politician giving W any credit when things were "going well" and these projects were being announced. At that time everything was said to be happening BECAUSE of what these local politicians were doing.
Funny how that changes when something goes wrong.
If you're really looking to blame someone, it seems to me that the Democrat congress has managed to tank the economy in less than 2 years.
In that short time, we're being given a tax increase (by not extending the Bush tax cuts); we have higher unemployment (from raising the minimum wage); and higher prices at the pump (made worse by refusing to even discuss more domestic drilling).
Why should we be surprised at the way market is responding?
As to the other issues cited on this board (such as fixing local bridges) those issues have existed for a long time and should have been fixed long ago.
C'mon guys and gals! Why NOT blame Frankenstein for the national economy, too? Don't get soft on this power pointer. I enjoyed eating at Sal's Spaghetti House. The owner and his helper always called each other "BIG GUY." Doesn't anyone remember? Or are you too cosmopolitan to have frequented Sal's? The clientele was usually a mix of attorneys, judges, and bums. Ummmmm.
ReplyDeleteSo how could you tell who was who?
ReplyDeleteHow's that economic development gal from Emaus doing these days?
ReplyDelete?? The Bethlehem ice rink (formerly Flyers Skate Zone) was and is not an arena. Have you been there? Is ther a blogger in the Lehigh Valley that actually checks facts before writing?
ReplyDelete