While Allentown City Council has been imploring the feds to rescue the town from our political turmoil, I have been surveying our timeless icons. Although, I cannot predict when Mr. Pawlowski will get a knock on his door, I can report on some needed emergency repairs.
Unlike Pawlowski who is responsible for his dilemma, the WPA structures continue standing despite the neglect. However, unlike people whose integrity is an internal trait, the structural integrity of these stone icons does require some outside attention.
A landing on the double stairway show above is starting to cave in. The seeping water in turn will damage the steps below it.
The bottom of the wall at the Union Terrace double stairway has some missing stones. These need to be replaced ASAP.
Unlike people who can be rehabilitated in prison, once these structures are gone, they're not coming back. In 25 years nobody will remember who Pawlowski was, but hopefully the stone icons of our park system will still be there.
Photos of the WPA structures and the campaign to save them by Molovinsky
Mr Molovinski. I can see by your articles here that the park system in Allentown is very close to your heart, and they are a legacy of the time when Allentown was known as a city of parks. We were nationally known for them, and these structures, as I've learned from your articles were built by the WPA as part of them.
ReplyDeleteI'm also aware that much of the Parkway today is unused up by where Schreibers Bridge crosses Cedar Creek. Also when they stopped traffic going across Klein's bridge, the parks department essentially divided the parkway into two pieces. You really can't get to Bogarts Bridge any longer except by 24th Street.
What I don't know, and I'm sure you do, is the large stone structure you illustrated here. Do those steps actually go somewhere? Or is this an artistic structure used to hold up side of the hill. I've never gotten there to explore it.
jamie@10;21, that wall is a retaining wall, holding up the roadway which was cut into the side of the slope, which runs down to the little lehigh creek. the double stairway was mostly an ornamental feature, connecting the bridal path below with the main park entrance above.
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