Word has reached this blog that the Allentown Band, oldest in the country, might be jeopardized by Mayor Tuerk's quest for diversity. Supposedly, the mayor is disturbed that those sitting in front of the West Park Bandshell watching the performances, all look like the same old folks to him, devoid of spirit and color.
So, it's not the band per se that is targeted, but their tradition of using the bandshell. Those affiliated with the Allentown and Pioneer Bands consider the bandshell performances an integral part of their identity.
I suspect that they're not taking much comfort in Tuerk's appreciation for tradition, after he announced ending the Halloween Parade, also the oldest in the country. Now, some of these old local traditions the mayor doesn't have a problem with, like philanthropy. The recently disbanded Century Fund just endowed free admission to the Art Museum. The Trexler Trust funds a large part of the park budget.
While I'm glad to take this threat public, I will not be in the trenches fighting for the bands' survival. I'm already fighting on a different front, trying to keep our WPA structures from crumbling.
I'm somewhat confused as to how the Allentown or Pioneer bands are being "jeopardized".
ReplyDeleteThe West Park bandshell itself is probably only used for about 30 concerts scheduled between mid-May and mid-September. From this year's schedule, it looks like both bands had about 7 appearances (each) there in 2022.
Is the band being told that next year's appearances will be limited? Is the city pulling city funding from the concert program, or directing that it goes to different bands?
I can think of many different ways that the city could screw this up, but it's not clear from your post exactly what changes the mayor is contemplating.
If he is proposing a cut in the number of appearances, I wouldn't understand why. There are an ample number of dates available outside of the normal schedule. If he's suggesting a cut in funding for the series, why would you cut the funding for a popular, already established concert series?
The existing concerts serve the area well. The older music fits in well with the historic district and draws concert attendees from many of the nearby senior facilities. It's a wonderful series that has been built up over many years by the city, the neighborhood group, and the regular attendees. Why would the mayor want to jeopardize that success?
I can only hope that City Hall is not planning on changing anything about the summer concert series. An existing event doesn't need to be canceled or changed to make way for a new one (like they're doing with the Halloween Parade). That needlessly divides people. There are ample other dates, venues and neighborhoods to develop other concerts.
You note your continued work to preserve the WPA structures. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the city were to commit to making improvements to the nearby Union Terrace Amphitheater and launching a different concert series there. That's actually expanding options and improving quality of life in the city, which I think is what people expect their mayor (any mayor) to do.
Back to West Park, I think that the current Mayor should worry less about the concerts there and more about the park itself. The city should have the Parks Department clean up the litter, leaves and other debris on a more frequent basis. Similarly, the police should patrol the park more regularly, and deal proactively with the drug users, alcoholics, homeless and students skipping school.
But don't stop there. I can assure the Mayor that West Park isn't the only park in the city needing more of that kind of attention.
Until the city can provide routine maintenance and basic safety in all our parks, they really have no place to be tinkering with a long-running concert series.
One has to wonder if the recent flurry of changes to long-standing events (like the Halloween Parade, Lights in the Parkway, and now the West Park concert series) has more to do with distracting attention from City Hall's failures in the basics of municipal governing (like clean parks and public safety) than with actually improving things for city residents.
Apparently the mayor told the representatives of the bands that "concerts for aging audiences had to go" and were to be replaced with concerts for more diverse and youthful groups. If this were to happen the Pioneer Band, and the Municipal Band would likely have to disband as West Park is their only remaining venue. The representative from musician's union 45 that spoke last night said in fact the band attendance has been improving. Regardless of what the attendance numbers numbers are the bands are a tradition in Allentown that goes back many generations. As well, there are many events in the park that draw only handfuls of people. Those at the meeting last night were also less than pleased to hear of the mayor's plans to replace the traditional band concerts with concerts for younger people. There was a general consensus this was a very bad idea. Already every school day the park is filled with truant Allen students who cause disruptions, vandalism, and fill the park with litter. The police already have their hands full without adding evening West Park weekend concerts for "young people". These would require far more police presence and bring far greater disruption and noise to the community than the band events.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, many moons ago, West Park was pristine. It was well cared for as were all the city parks courtesy of the man that built them, Harry Trexler. He also endowed the funds to maintain them!!! What happened here??? Where has the money absconded to??? Could we just have lazy employees??? I have seen the constant downward spiral of this once desirable city.... me thinks it's not coming back in spite of all our tax dollars have built downtown... another shell game!!!
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