The excellent article in today's Morning Call by Devon Lash quotes city spokesman Mike Moore as saying park items are addressed on a
priority basis. The city
hopes to get grants to refurbish the WPA structures. I have observed over the years that if the city determines something is a priority, then they do manage to get the grants. In today's article the boat landing is referred to as a set of steps. The Landing was a major feature of Lehigh Parkway. Unfortunately, forty years ago, one park director took it upon himself to decide that it was expendable. These structures are the heritage of the citizens of Allentown. Please join me tomorrow evening, and help make their preservation a priority for Allentown. I'm grateful to Devon Lash and The Morning Call for their support in this effort.
The excellent article in today's Morning Call by Devon Lash quotes city spokesman Mike Moore as saying park items are addressed on a priority basis. The city hopes to get grants to refurbish the WPA structures. I have observed over the years that if the city determines something is a priority, then they do manage to get the grants. In today's article the boat landing is referred to as a set of steps. The Landing was a major feature of Lehigh Parkway. Unfortunately, forty years ago, one park director took it upon himself to decide that it was expendable. These structures are the heritage of the citizens of Allentown. Please join me tomorrow evening, and help make their preservation a priority for Allentown. I'm grateful to Devon Lash and The Morning Call for their support in this effort.
Only because you mentioned it first, one park director managed his job
ReplyDeletelike the parks were commercial advertising specials. Hope you politely of course challenge Devon's description of the 1930s WPA historic structures. If a city wants to diminish the harm its doing to a park, substituting the word "steps" when a more accurate description is "boat landing" sure would do it.
Just saw the paper. Outstanding publicity for your caring efforts. Excellent photo. Points out the deterioration you've written about for the past 3 years. Well done Mr. Molovinsky!
ReplyDeletei think the above post does indicate that the boat landing was more than just steps. i also think that devon did an excellent job. as i have stated before, preserving the remaining structures is the objective. in addition to the boat landing, we have lost the island, and the wonderful trexler greenhouse (not a wpa project). it's my hope to elevate the priority of these structures on both the city and trexler trust lists. this will best be accomplished by not pummeling those who write the lists. i know some are aghast that i'm attempting to cooperate with city officials and the press. some have even accused me of hypocrisy. preserving 300 stone foot walls cannot be done by 9 people on a weekend. this must become a municipal priority, and that's the mission.
ReplyDeleteTo secure city, state and possibly federal grants does require city support. How else can a grant get written? No one disputes that.
ReplyDeleteVideo cameras must be installed in all city parks or your efforts and the hopeful tax dollar based grants will not be protected. While some care like you and your friends, others need to harm.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your hard work. It's easy to see why you’re grateful to Reporter Lash, but really she left out some important reporter details. She quotes a student but doesn't reveal his school or the title of his paper. Also, some reporters would have interviewed professional masons to gain independent perspective on this topic. As for Moore, doesn't a city keep financial records?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Michael!
ReplyDelete"some have even accused me of hypocrisy."
ReplyDeleteWell, just keep doing what you think is right and don't worry about what folks will say. I don't envy you - having to work with the clowns that run this city must be awful. But hopefully you can talk some sense into helping them realize it's best to preserve what gifts we already enjoy in this city.
However, old stone steps and walls are not money makers. Sad, but true. It will make this preservation effort difficult. But I thank you for the effort and wish you the best of luck succeeding.
Did you happen to see the August 31st edition of The Bethlehem Press?
ReplyDeleteOn page A7, the top story and photo highlight SteelStacks restoration of an 1860 stone building on the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. land that is authentically being restored even using lyme free mortar. Perhaps you can find this photo and bring it to your tomorrow night meeting.
Your works, MM, was rewarded with this MC story, but it seems they begrudingly gave you credit. Heck, "Allentown Man's..." is hardly the credit you deserve. And your name didn't even appear until the jump page.
ReplyDeleteall about your ego. period.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is about MM's ego at all. As a mostly conservative guy (loved his letters when Gunther read them) his dedication to preserving structures built by socialist FDR is testament to his sincerity? Me? I'd probably let the remnants of that skunk's New Deal just rot away. Who would even dare to walk those steps from MLK Blvd up to whatever street that is up there?
ReplyDeleteUsing the Penn Pilot site (containing aerial shots of PA back to the late 30's), I found and enlarged this shot of the boat landing. Notice how prominently it stands out in the landscape; it appears as a backwards "S" slightly below dead center on the photo.
ReplyDeleteA bit off topic, But a BIG thank you to "Whethervain" for posting about the Penn Pilot site.
ReplyDeletePenn Pilot is a great free image library with arial survey photos of Pa dating from 1937 to 1972 .
http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/