Joe Daddona was mayor of Allentown four terms. Yesterday, when I visited the Reading Road Bridge, I saw the For Sale sign on the Daddona house, which adjoins Union Terrace. Actually, the park is now named for the former mayor. One of Joe's many accomplishments was to refurbish the historic Reading Road Bridge in 1980. It was under his leadership and pride that the adjoining pedestrian bridge was added at that time. Built in 1824, it was one of first bridges in Lehigh County. The current leadership takes campaign credit in replacing the bridges throughout the county. Although all identified defective bridges have already been replaced, they are now simply replacing older bridges. This bridge, in addition to being part of the county history, is part of the park's charm. Please join me this evening, and convince the County Commissioners to retain this important part of our past. Your presence would be appreciated at either one, or both, of two meetings on the topic. The committee meeting will be at 5:45 on the 4th fl. of Government Center. The main Commissioner Meeting, and vote, will take place at 7:30, in the first floor chamber.file photograph from The Morning Call archives.
above reprinted from March of 2012
ADDENDUM MAY 22, 2024: Although nobody did join me, I managed to save the historic Reading Road Bridge. However, the small park bridge from the Walnut side of the park was removed several years ago, rather than repaired. This missing park entrance significantly degrades Union Terrace*. To enter the amphitheater area from the north, one must now walk down to St. Emmo Street.
*In all respect to Daddona, I prefer to use the historic name of parks in Allentown. I do not believe that parks or streets should be renamed.
BTW, if you visited the Reading Road bridge today, you’d notice that the Dadonna house is once again for sale.
ReplyDeleteNo one on the East Side refers to Irving Park as Andre Reed Park. Andre Reed was a fantastic athlete and should certainly be celebrated by the city but the park belongs to the neighborhood.
ReplyDelete6:36 - Wasn’t Irving Park also named after someone?
ReplyDeleteI don’t know the answer, I just always assumed it was. If so, it would be a little different than the Union Terrace/Dadonna situation.
But I still get your point about renaming existing parks. Changing a name always feels like they’re stealing it - either from who it was named after previously or from the neighborhood itself.
There used to be a time when the city would try to add parks and park land. Sadly that seems to be a thing of the past, despite the city population being at record levels.
They renamed Irving Park after Andre Reed. Unfortunately, the city did add two parcels. One being on Basin Street and the other the old fertilizer plant on Lawrence Street, now called MLK. Both were purchased from one individual during the crooked Pawlowski regime.
DeleteIrving Park was simply named after the street, hence the neighborhood connection. It is understood the Steet was named after the author Washington Irving (Rip Van Winkle/Legend of Sleepy Hollow).
DeleteRemember when Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy... and now it's back to Cape Canaveral... why do we bother with this in the first place??? We can't keep our fingers off of anything, can we???
ReplyDelete