Decades ago I could be found at an Allentown Art Museum opening. As the years passed and I became more cynical, I started referring to those events as Whine and Cheese. Now of course, I call those people yuppies, and have long since been removed from their mailing lists. In the last several months my regard for them, and the Old Allentown Preservation Association, has grown even lower. Both groups sat silently by, while the architectural and historical gems of Allentown were destroyed. Allentown only had a few significant facades. I captured the above image this summer. We need not speculate if the new arena will last 80 years, or if people in the year 3000 will consider it's architecture significant; It will be long gone.
above reprinted from January of 2012
ADDENDUM JUNE 4, 2024: Needless to say, the bulldozer ate the beautiful facade above for the our underused arena. What's bringing me back to again complain about our cultural institutions is their silence about the irreplaceable WPA art deco post office, sitting there being submitted to vandalism and theft.
While I’d love for the post office to be saved, I’m not sure I can put the blame on either OAPA or the Art Museum groups.
ReplyDeleteThe art museum focus is on paintings and sculptures, not architectural preservation. And while OAPA does deal in architectural preservation, the post office falls outside its borders.
What I would like to see is the Allentown Preservation League, which was founded to speak up for the preservation of buildings outside the borders of other groups, lead the way and rally opposition.
Unfortunately, they’ve been silent and seem preoccupied with running their preservation warehouse, which has profited in the past from selling donated pieces of demolished buildings.
While it would be NICE to hear from those VOLUNTEER groups, we SHOULD be hearing from those who are PAID to represent us. It would certainly be nice to hear some from our Congresswoman; state representatives; and certainly our local politicians, who all seem to talk a great game about equity and a pedestrian-friendly downtown, yet seem amazingly willing to let the Post Office get torn down and moved despite its current accessibility to people of all income and ethnic groups.
My suspicion is that their silence has been bought off by the likes of JB Reilly/City Center, which probably is already working to land a big, fat government lease for wherever the current post office relocated to.
We can add the Lehigh County Historical Society to those silent and missing in action. Understand that any older building still standing on Hamilton is because the owner declined Reilly's offer, not because of any historic/architectural merit. It is because of this silence I call out our cultural posers, and campaign for the post office.
DeleteI see a litany of daily complaints on this forum about the NIZ. Now there are complaints that the post office at 5th & Hamilton is being left to decay with vandalism and theft. Without the NIZ, all of Hamilton Street would be suffering like old post office property. Put that property in the NIZ (its 1 block outside) and watch how quickly City Center would incorporate it into something new and exciting for downtown.
ReplyDeleteYou're completely wrong. The map is portable, Reilly can trade any property for another, beyond the original zone. Secondly, the NIZ is for new construction. Note that all the buildings are new, none have been rehabbed.
DeleteThe NIZ has been a total bust for Pennsylvania taxpayers. Outside of our immediate area, I doubt very many residents across the state even know what has been done to ALL of us. My hope is the NIZ scheme is halted before that money pit grows even deeper.
Delete7:57 - Do we really need another cookie-cutter office or apartment building from Allentown’s Baron of Bland, JB Reilly? I don’t think so.
DeleteWhat you see as exciting today looks like Eastern European public housing to me, and will be even more dated and boring by the time Reilly cashes out and sells the properties.
The city could have had different blocks take on their own architectural character, and would have had a lasting attraction for that alone. Instead, it’s just another missed opportunity for a city with no imagination among its leaders.
A few points: I thought the Americus Hotel was granted NIZ funding for a portion of its magnificent rehabilitation? New construction is easier and more profitable to the developer than rehabilitation. Why not make the Post Office rehabilitation a condition for the next huge NIZ new building. He who writes the rules can also change the rules....all they have to do is stand up and show some integrity .
ReplyDeleteIt was. NIZ money is available for capital improvements - not necessarily just new construction. The Trifecta building and Jandl’s wedding venue also received modest amounts of NIZ funding. This makes the loss of many of these buildings even harder to swallow.
DeleteSo heritage architecture is sacrificed for $$$
ReplyDelete