When the wall along the entrance road to Lehigh Parkway collapsed, the entrance had to be closed, until they could construct a new wall. The closure wasn't because of the missing upper portion acting as a guard rail, it was because of the lower portion, which was a retaining wall holding up the roadway itself. In the mid 1930's, the road was built by the WPA, by cutting into the side of a steep ravine leading down to the Little Lehigh Creek. It was essential to shore up the exposed side of the road with a wall.
Halfway down the road is the centerpiece we call the Double Stairway. Steps from two sides lead down from the road, to the bridle path and creek below. Although very architectural, it too is an elaborate retaining structure for the road. This architectural masterpiece is in structure jeopardy. Although the vertical walls are in decent shape, the problem is the landings, both at the top and down each set of stairs. These flats surfaces have degraded, and water is seeping down into the steps below, undermining the structure from within.
The Double Stairway was designed in 1928 by one of the leading landscape architects in the United States. He was commissioned to design this masterpiece by General Harry Trexler. The stock crash of 1929 and the Great Depression put off the construction until Roosevelt's New Deal in 1935, when the WPA utilized the blueprints.
Allentown could never afford to create such an icon now, nor can we afford to lose it from neglect.
photocredit:molovinsky
I sincerely apologize for being way off topic ... but I would absolutely love it if you could 'weigh in' on the abrupt early retirement of The Morning Call's well known propagandist, um, er, ah, opinion puff piece writer, Bill White, at your earliest convenience.
ReplyDeleteIt is your blog, however. And I certainly acknowledge that. So thanks all the same either way, of course.
Respectfully,
ROLF OELER
(Yes, the very same guy who allegedly once tried to kill both Barack Hussein 0bama and Bill White. All in the same day, I've heard through the grapevine. Ten minutes after I sunk the Titanic AND killed the Lindbergh Baby, doesn't everybody know?)
rolf@8:12, as you might surmise, I was chomping at the bit to address the White departure. However, this evening a city council committee reviews the park budget, so today's post had a time line, pertaining to a very important piece of Allentown's park system.
ReplyDeleteI have abandoned the prepared White post, titled Bill White Walks The Plank, but will still address that subject matter tomorrow.