As a small boy growing up in the twin homes above Lehigh Parkway, I would go down the steep wooded ravine and cross the Robin Hood Bridge. The stone lined spring pond and miniature bridge was just the first in a series of wonderful WPA constructions to explore. Last year, when I organized the reclamation of the Boat Landing, my memory turned to the pond. Although overgrown with several inches of sod, I knew the treasure was still savable.
In the spring of 2010 I met Mike Gilbert of the Park Department, and pitched the idea of a partial restoration. On May 26th, I posted A Modest Proposal, which outlined my hopes for the pond. By July, Gilbert had the Park Department clear off the remaining stones, and clean up around the miniature bridge.
Park Director Greg Weitzel indicated to me that the pond features uncovered will be maintained. Any further clearing would be at the discretion of Mike Gilbert. In our conversation he also stated that there are virtually no funds available for the preservation of the WPA icons.
I will attempt to organize a group and contributions for this most worthy cause. Between the Spring Pond and The Boat Landing there was once a bridge to the island. Wouldn't it be nice if a small boy could go exploring.
above reprinted from previous posts
UPDATE August 2013Mike Gilbert has retired, and the Park Department has a new director. Although grass and sod are starting to again cover the remaining stones that surround the pond, the miniature bridge is still visible. I will make it my mission to again pitch the new personnel.
UPDATE June 18, 2014. The grass and sod has reclaimed the stones that surround the pond. Only the very top of the miniature bridge is still visible to those who know that it's there. Unless there is an immediate intervention, it's days are numbered.
HISTORY IS FRAGILE
UPDATE February 2017:In 2015, in cooperation with Friends of Allentown Parks, I supervised college volunteers to clear the new sod off the pond stones, and the new bush off the miniature bridge. Allentown is on its third park director since this post was first written, and has acquired two large parcels to create new parks. To be planning additional parks, when our existing park features are left to abandonment, is incredibility poor management.
UPDATE May 1, 2018: This past weekend the pond, miniature bridge and spring channel to the creek were once again cleared. The work was done by volunteers from Faith Church, Asbury Church, Igesia De Fe and Salem Bible Church, through Karen El-Chaar, director of Friends Of The Parks. Although the park department provided assistance in the two clean ups over the past several years, they have not provided ongoing maintenance to the site. Understand that in the past few years they have constructed the exercise area at Jordan Park, the cement disc golf pads in the parkway and other recreational features. It is long overdue that the WPA structures be returned to the regular park budget and schedule.
UPDATE JANUARY 14, 2020: Karen El-Chaar is now Director Of Parks. Hopefully she will have a soft spot for this particular WPA structure. I continue trying through this blog and facebook to keep these structures on the public agenda.
Michael Molovinski said:
ReplyDelete"Karen El-Chaar is now Director Of Parks. Hopefully she will have a soft spot for this particular WPA structure."
Update 7/4/20:
Soft spot? NOPE! I can tell you that the Spring Pond is in the worst shape I have EVER seen it!
Weeds and tall grass hide the sides, and plants grow from the spring pond floor. The water is a thick pea green, an I couldn't even determine if the water was moving, or if ANY water was coming from the spring itself.
And I observed this neglect on a major holiday weekend! That level of neglect would NEVER have been tolerated on any day by a competent Director of Parks, much less the Fourth of July.
I understand you had high hopes for El-Chaar, but her inaction here is inexcusable. She may talk a better game, but she has quickly fallen in line with the poor performance of her recent predecessors.
She fits in perfectly with O'Connell's administration, and is no Friend of the Parks.
unknown@6:11, as someone who has been leading the charge for the WPA for 20 years, I can tell you that El-Chaar is the only ally that I ever had. Although the WPA is not a park department priority that I had hope for, at least now they're aware of their shortcomings in that regard.
ReplyDeleteMM –
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry, but being “aware of their shortcomings in that regard” doesn’t cut it for me.
We’re not asking for something that requires specialized work and thousands of dollars. I’d be happy to see some basic maintenance like weed/lawn cutting and clearing out the (very small) Spring Pond basin, and have that continue to be done on a regular schedule.
Surely a competent Director of Parks could get this done, since such work is literally done weekly right next to the Spring Pond.
Maybe the Parks Director doesn’t believe she has the manpower available to handle such a small task. If so, I would suggest she takes a less-than-a-mile drive from the Spring Pond and visits the Parks Barn near the entrance to the Police Academy.
I don’t have any problem finding park workers waiting (sometimes for over 30 minutes) to clock out at the end of their day. Those man-hours add up and are being stolen from the taxpayers. Again, such maintenance doesn’t take any specialized skill (like stonemasonry), and after an initial cleanup would take even less time afterwards (if continued on a regular basis).
The fact that this basic maintenance isn’t being done now speaks volumes to the PRIORITIES of the current Administration and Parks Director. If we were giving them a grade, it would have to be an ‘F’.
unknown@11:34, fyi El-Chaar, when with Friends, secured a grant from Trexler Trust to repoint the Fountain Park steps. She cooperated with me having the same masons also repair the top of the Union Terrace St. Elmo steps. I've never been bashful about criticizing the park department, but she has been the only supporter of the WPA in the last 30 years.
ReplyDelete