Mar 7, 2022

Restore The Beauty


I read with interest about a dam north of Allentown that was demolished. The group who removed said...
“The dam and reservoir were cherished by many people in the local community and an important part of.... history. We want to make sure its story is preserved.”
When I fought unsecessfually to save the Robin Hood Dam in Lehigh Parkway, the park director at the time proposed replacing the dam with signage. There is such a fading sign at the former dam site on the Monocacy Creek in downtown Bethlehem. While I declined his offer for a sign instead of the dam, this post is to announce my new WPA project... I will champion to have the city restore the Robin Hood Bridge piers to their previous scenic state, before being despoiled by the broken dam rubble. This rubble was placed there by the Wildlands Conservancy, when they demolished the dam. Demolishing the dam was a crime, but making the previously beautiful bridge piers ugly was a sin.

The rubble will have to be removed carefully, as not to damage the piers or their foundation. Future Allentonians deserve the beautiful vista the bridge once provided, not the ugliness left by the dam's destruction.

2 comments:

  1. I commend your interest in the parks and your ongoing activism to save the WPA structures, but I wish I had your (or any) sense of optimism that those leading the city will do anything about it.

    If Allentown can't even put out a sufficient number of trash cans in the parks, how can I believe that they'll get something major like restoring the Robin Hood bridge right?

    Our city planning and zoning departments recently approved new 5-story apartment complexes at one of the best entrances to the Parkway (over Schreiber's Bridge), forever ruining that entrance and the natural beauty that was there. In addition, the buildings are nothing remarkable and more closely resemble European public housing than anything that should be placed along an area like the Little Lehigh Creek.

    How long will Schreiber's Bridge survive under the increased traffic, or before additional traffic lights are placed along MLK Drive (which was supposed to be a quick way to get workers, visitors and residents into the downtown)? There's also something going on just upstream from the new apartments, as the trees along the creek have been cleared on the creek bank (upstream from Schreiber's; opposite side of the creek from MLK). Who knows what imminent horror the city is planning there?

    I don't mean to de-motivate you, I'm just really feeling like the city has become a lost cause.

    I see nothing from the new administration that makes me think that they're primary purpose is anything beyond harvesting democrat votes in elections.

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  2. Anon@10:20, Allentown suffers from PC. Trash cans were removed because current national park PC says "take out what you bring in", ignoring Allentown's reality of growing litter. Schreiber's Bridge carried the load for the three years it took to replace the 15th St. Bridge, which was 125 years newer to begin with.
    As for my campaign to remove the debris, both the city and Wildlands Conservancy will be defensive and make excuses, but I will not be "de-motivated" from my mission.

    ReplyDelete

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