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| photography by Tami Quigley |
This beautiful photograph was taken by Tami Quigley last fall. This classic view of the stone piers, rising out of the Little Lehigh, has been inspiring photographers and artists for over 70 years. I have picture postcards of the same view. The stone piers are now surrounded by the concrete rubble of the former dam. Although the rapids still provide some sound and view, the portion of beauty and magic has been reduced in half. The new park director may have set a record in park degradation. Although only here for a matter of weeks, before even having seen the whole park, he agreed and recommended that the Robin Hood Dam be demolished. Piling its rubble by the stone piers is salt in the wound of our lost beauty.
photograph by Tami Quigley
photograph by Tami Quigley
above reprinted from October of 2013
ADDENDUM MARCH 8, 2022: Yesterday, I started my Restore The Beauty campaign to have the city remove the rubble which was dumped around the stone piers of the Robin Hood Bridge. This bridge was designed to complement the iconic stone work along the park entrance road, leading down to the bridge. When the dam was demolished in 2013, the Wildlands Conservancy saved both hauling and landfill fees by piling the debris around the piers. At that time, both the mayor and his new from out of town park director, weren't native Allentonians, and didn't appreciate the park's significance to the city.
Principals in the administration kindly did get back to me about yesterday's post, and expressed concern. However, a funny thing happened to me in the nine years since 2013... I've gotten older, and have much less patience with studies looking into the matter.
The lehigh parkway is a unique asset for allentown, not many cities have such a great recreational area. It is likely underappreciated because it is not bringing in any money for anyone. It is a wonder they have not attempted to sell it off into building lots. i
ReplyDeleteThe parkway actually brought in $323,000 in 2020 from Lights in the Parkway.
Deleteray@5:20, actually Pawlowski was going to sell the timber on the city's South Mountain land. I tipped off the MC reporter at the time, and his article embarrassed Pawlowski to back off. that reporter, Jarrett Renshaw, now covers the White House for Reuters. Last summer I tipped off a recent MC reporter about a shenanigan in SWT, however I'm now an outlaw with the MC editor, Mike Miorelli, so she whitewashed the story, leaving the public in the dark.
ReplyDelete