When I grew up on Liberator Ave., I would walk up Catalina Ave. toward school, which was at the end of Coronado. The streets were named for the Vultee-Consolidated WW2 planes, and the neighborhood was next to the airport built as part of the war effort. Vultee Street was built to connect the hangers with the Mack 5C plant, which was given over to Vultee-Consolidated for plane part manufacturing. Today this small airport is known as Queen City, and is threatened by Mayor Ed Pawlowski.
1944 was the first full year of the operation for the company's Allentown, Pennsylvania factory. Consolidated Vultee handled over $100M in wartime contracts at their Allentown plant where they produced TBY-2 Sea Wolves, components parts for B-24 Liberator bombers and other essential armaments and products for the war effort.Pawlowski covets this unique part of our history to expand the tax base. What he doesn't understand is that more housing or commercial space is not in Allentown's best long term interest. Unfortunately, long term interest is not a term understood by our current leadership. There is a whole development of started houses off S. 12th St. and Mack Blvd. which were never completed. There are filled in foundations on 8th Street, also never completed. More housing is the last thing both the real estate market and school system need. Likewise, the existing commercial sector has been struggling to maintain an acceptable occupancy rate. Queen City airport is an unique asset to Allentown. If LVIA does successfully expand, a separate airport for small planes is very desirable for safety. Considering Pawlowski's predetermined objective, I question whether he should have been appointed to the LVIA Board.
above reprinted from 2011
UPDATE NOVEMBER 20, 2019: Queen City Airport ended up being retained by LVIA. Ed Pawlowski was only finally dislodged from Allentown by the federal authorities. This blog takes pride in having recognized his schemes for what they were, long before the local politicians or press.
I am sure there were many good old boys ready to develop this space. I remember attending drag racing events at this facility in the early 1950's. It was a perfect facility for such an event. If the city had any imagination, they could lease part of it out for such events.
ReplyDeleteDrag racing on the airport runway would relieve some of motorcycle and hot rod noise that is heard morning, noon and night in South Whitehall due to its location near 309.
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