Local Current Artists: Alison Bessesdotter

Usually, when you meet a good artist who is prolific, they are also so versatile it's hard to define their work.  Among many other descriptions, it can be said that Alison Bessesdotter makes tranquil paintings and watercolors that resemble fabric. She also makes fabrics which resemble paintings. Her tools, paint, brush and sewing machine are used interchangeably, sometimes all on one piece. If that merging isn't enough, she also puts her art on wearables, both jackets and wristbands. Bessesdotter recently moved her studio from Hamilton Street to the Banana Factory in South Bethlehem.

Images of Allentown Past, #1

photocredit:molovinsky
Over the years my camera has caught many images which can no longer be seen. Some have been recent victims of the changing city, others not seen for decades.

Evil Eva's/South end of 8th Street Bridge/2005

The Gordon Street Paint Shop

As a boy growing up in Little Lehigh Manor, I vaguely remember the trolleys. The final switch over to buses occurred in 1953. Although the major trolley and bus barn was the Fairview facility near my house, the Lehigh Valley Transit Company also had other storage and work sites. The west end trolley barn, at 14th and Gordon Streets, also served as their paint shop. Although the location has been a wholesale plumbing supply business for many decades, until recent years the tracks leading into the current warehouse were visible. The photo above dates from 1938, and shows a freshly painted trolley.

Dam Removal Threatens Bridge

An on site engineering consultation made the following points.

Removing a dam is one thing, removing a dam next to a bridge is another. 

After the dam is removed, expect the creek bed to be several feet lower. 

The bridge piers must first be evaluated for depth and condition.

Did the Wildlands Conservancy provide the City of Allentown with the proper engineering studies to confirm that removing the dam will not have an adverse effect on the bridge?  Is the City of Allentown willing to jeopardize the citizen's iconic Robin Hood Bridge to accommodate a pet project of the Wildlands Conservancy? The dam removal will significantly increase the velocity of the stream and accelerate pier scour. Will the Wildland Conservancy indemnify the City for consequential bridge re-mediation or replacement?

Give A Damn, Save A Dam

The post card above dates from the early 1950's. Allentown's Lehigh Parkway, especially the Robin Hood area, attracted national attention for it's beauty and integration of the spectacular WPA structures. This occurred because two years prior to the WPA era, General Trexler had plans made up for the Parkway. Allentown, in the current vernacular, was shovel ready. The bridge, little dam, and double stepped structure provided the park visitor with both beautiful sights and sounds. The Wildlife Conservancy has received a grant for close to half a $million dollars to remove dams in Allentown's park system. Nobody is paying attention. Mayor Pawlowski, not too interested in the parks anyway, is consumed with his development projects. The Conservancy is politically correct in this era of ecology. The thing is that this park, and especially this area of the park, is not a wildland, but a historical icon of Allentown. Please help me save our heritage, help me save this little dam.

Junior Scientists To Alter Park System

The junior scientists of the Wildlands Conservancy have been given permission by The City of Allentown to remove four dams along the Little Lehigh and Jordan Creeks. These dams have been in place since the 1930's. Experienced fishermen worry that their removal will allow muskies and other large predators to move upstream and endanger the trout population. Between the opinion of fishermen and junior scientists, I'll take the fishermen any day. The park department is officially leaderless at the moment. While the former director moved on, the new one has not yet been confirmed. Although the Conservancy got a grant to remove the dams, how much would it cost in 2013 dollars to replace these dams? As a park walker, I can attest to the beauty and sound of the water cascading over these short one foot drops. The current administration should protect our park's history, until which time the citizens are in consensus with such drastic changes.
UPDATE: The new park director was confirmed at the last city council meeting. The Wildlands Conservancy was previously allowed to create riparian buffers in the park system, denying park users the traditional view and access to the streams, now the dam removals. I think the time has come for a discussion: Is the park system to be used as a laboratory for the Wildlands Conservancy, or an asset for the citizens?  Were the parks meant to be wildlands, or to benefit from landscape architecture as envisioned by Harry Trexler and others? Are these decisions to be made by a series of itinerant park directors or the citizens of Allentown? photocredit:The Morning Call/Donna Fisher

For Whom The Bell Tolls

Although Carmen Bell took advantage of the press conference and photo opportunity against the water lease, she was not willing to commit to being opposed. Instead, she suggested more opportunity for dialogue, and informing both the citizens and council on all the options. As the election draws nearer, three weeks, she has opted out of the anti-lease, anti-administration group. Melman, Todd and Velez will present themselves as a slate for transparency and responsiveness. The incumbents, Guridy, O'Connell, Glazier and Moto must stand on their record. Incumbent Joe Davis is running unopposed for a two year seat. Carmen Bell will join Daryl Hendricks as a stand alone candidate, but without his connections to the community.

A Revolting Development

At the end of every episode of The Life Of Riley, Chester Riley would say "What a revolting development this turned out to be." If I was Dave Erdman, Editor of The Morning Call, I might have uttered those words at the History Museum on Blogger Night. The paper did everything right to promote the event. In addition to continuous notices in the hard copy paper, and the digital version, they offered free trial digital subscriptions, plus food and beverage for attending. It truly was a well done production. Never the less, not all the winning bloggers even attended, much less any general public. Despite all the publicity, the needle on the site counter for this blog hasn't moved. I make a point of listening to what is discussed in diners in the morning. The recent police raid on the stripper club garnished much more interest than the water lease. Interest in the news, either main stream or alternative, is minimum in this town. Half the population is in a social economic survival mode, which consumes their attention. The other remaining half is indifferent, at least to local affairs. Those of us that are interested in such things may have the problem requiring help.

Wimpy's Revenge

After some deliberation, Bernie O'Hare and I decided that we would solicit support for the 2013 blog contest. We would both do a post, and drafted Wimpy, as we did in 2012. I put the post up in early April, and placed Wimpy on my sidebar. Two days later, I asked Bernie about his post, and he replied, "I forgot, I'll do it." Although he never remembered, I never said anything, but didn't forget. It's nice for Bernie that I would grovel for our votes, while he could remain the dignified journalist. Bernie didn't attend the award ceremony last evening, but I volunteered to take his prize. If he acts quickly, he might still find it. It's in a city trash container near 6th and Chew.

The Real Neuweiler Story

A feature story in today's Morning Call omits the fact that several years ago the City of Allentown stole the brewery from the rightful owner. Just as merchants of Hamilton Street were never allotted the opportunity to benefit from city arranged grants or the NIZ, the former taxpaying owner of the brewery was never given any assistance. Mayor Pawlowski can't stand private investors, if he didn't give you a grant, you're not worth much. In the early 70's, the City and Redevelopment Authority gave control of the Neuweiler Brewery to a friend. Under the City's watch, windows were removed and exterior walls broken through to remove the brewing tanks and piping for scrap. All metal, wires and any object of value were crudely ripped out in an orgy of demolition. With a large opening in the back wall smashed out, the basement was used as a free landfill by a roofer.

What should be mentioned about the XXXX roofing property is the fact that when I was involved with the brewery property in front that the owner at one point had compiled evidence of the roofers illegal disposal of environmental hazards and that when the evidence was to be presented to the City that he was not only arrested, for issues regarding the building, but the evidence was just disregarded. That property would stockpile environmental hazards in the back and then when the pile got large enough a large dump truck with a front end loader would show up. A bunch of work would go on out back and "poof" no pile of garbage. Also, when he would do slate roofing (which is covered in petroleum) he would just dump it on the rear of the property and when the piles would get high, he would level the property off, even into the railbed in the rear. (anyone that doesn't believe me on this one, go take a walk on the rails behind the property you will see it). former caretaker of brewery property

 Still the building remained iconic, because of it's rich industrial architecture. In 2003 a New Jersey investor bought the building for over $200,000 in the condition shown in the photograph. The building has been in that condition since the late 70's. His hope was at some point the City would appreciate the landmark. and cooperate in its revival. He must have found the building citations from the Pawlowski administration mind-numbing; Can you image being held responsible for carnage committed by a previous owner under the City's watch? Mayor Pawlowski, afraid someone might want to invest private money in Allentown and pay real estate taxes, had the Neuweiler owner jailed when he came to Allentown to discuss the property. The city, through the Redevelopment Authority, then seized the brewery. The former Neuweiler garages, behind the brewery, were sold years ago to a roofer. A couple years ago the City purchased the roofer's property for close to a $million dollars, reuniting the parcel. The Morning Call story today is about the hope and potential of the site, but I thought you might want to know about the City's complicity in it's sordid past.

portions of this post are reprinted from May 2008
UPDATE: The following was received as a comment on June 14,2012, by the former caretaker of the Neuweiler property:The Neuweiler property has many many secrets hidden within it that the City does not know about environmentally. The bottling house along Front St at one point was cleaned up the DEP (state) and was an absolute disaster then. I remember a few years ago, as well as in the ‘80s, that they City made the comment about just tearing it down. I made myself a little phone call to them and needed to inform them that if they would demolish the building that they would have to completely rebuild the roads around the building and regrade the property seeing as the building is holding them up. Regarding the former owner of the larger buildings, the building was not actually purchased, the mortgage was. Mr. Kellner bought the mortgage in foreclosure. The owner, Hanna Industrial Properties, fell on hard times with the loss of his primary funding source. Once Mr. Kellner took over the property the City was giving him fines of thousands of dollars a month because of appearance issues with the property. I have a copy of the inspection report that the fines were based on, it is ridiculous. Since they took over have they done anything to alleviate the code violations that exist? Lead by example. The City actually took the property via eminent domain as the original site of the arena project. for some reason, their sights were then changed (no pun intended) to the Center Square one. The developer of the Arena fronted the near $1M to purchase the 16 W Liberty St property, the rear parcel, in the form of a loan to the Redevelopment Authority. They last year, defaulted on that loan. The last year that Mr. Kellner owned the property, the City even went as far as to demolish the iconic Neuweiler smokestack. How did they do this you may ask, they went back into the archives and decided to act on a raze or repair order from 1979, mind you the demolition occurred around 2007 or 8. We had an engineer come out and certify the structural integrity of the property as well and they demolished it anyway. I personally showed at least 20-30 real estate developers through this property in the almost 5 years that I was involved in it, most of them sent through City Hall or the county. Each one of them had the same thing to say, there is no money to be made there. There is no way with the amount it would cost to just renovate the building and convert it into anything that the rental that would be required to fund the project would be too high for the area. This is without the environmental issues. My question is, how is the City going to make this happen? My thought is that this is Phase 2 of the City's NIZ project, the arena being Phase 1. I also just took a look at the “study” that was done by cornerstone for the property and just right off the top of my head I find it very shady. There are parts of the building that were obvious issues that were omitted or made to be less than what they are. John P. Chapkovich

reprinted from July 2012

UPDATE May 2, 2013: Yesterday, The Morning Call reported that Ruckus Brewing is buying the Neuweiler property from the city for $1.7 million and will indeed have NIZ funds for it's redevelopment. Above I reprint my post from last year, outlining the City's complicity in distressing a property, and then stealing it.  molovinsky on allentown, providing the real story behind the shenanigans.

UPDATE 7:30a.m.:  Despite  The Morning Call's front page feature story sporting illustrations, pictures and charts,  Ruckus is nothing more than the hype of a 30 year old marketing promoter.  It has no brew pub experience,  no  real estate experience,  and a very limited distribution of it's contracted beer.  Their business appears to be a small marketing office in New York City, which already is featuring the Neuweiler Brewer's Hill Project on their website as an accomplishment. 

Allentown Gives Merchants Short Leash

Every time I see Peter Lewnes, he expresses some gratitude about how complimentary I've been about his stewardship of 7th Street. That's about to change. Pete has been designated manager for Hamilton Street, and it's new facade grants program. The initial investment by the donors is only $300,000, for grants up to $15,000,  but then again, there's not many merchants left. Pete mentioned that he will use the 1930 Victorian approach, which he uses on 7th Street. Put aside that victorian has nothing to do with 1930, but from spending time on 7th Street, I know what he means. Pete has all the buildings essentially treated the same. They're given a basic historic look, and a hand lettered business sign. I praised the program because the merchants of 7th Street were primarily upstart businesses on a low budget, more concerned with acquiring merchandize to sell, rather than exterior esthetics. Driving into Allentown on 7th Street,  the street looks quite presentable. In reality, this painted rose technique has a short shelve life, as does any painted exterior surface now a days. Besides a small inside OPEN sign, the merchants are not permitted neon or freedom in sign choices. City inspectors threaten the merchants for non-conforming signs. Can you imagine having told Max Hess or John Leh what kind of sign they had to use in our hey day? Can you imagine telling Hess and Leh what they should do for $15,000 in 2013 dollars.  Although the new facade grant program hasn't yet begun, the criterion already expressed says that we don't really want your success, just clean yourself up and behave.

Hamilton Street's Token Facade Grants

The other day I purchased a fleece sweatshirt in Archives, a store with urban fashions in the 600 block of Hamilton. The store is owned by New York Urban, located in the 700 Block. I could well be their only elderly Jewish customer, their wares being what I would call hip-hop. I'm sure that they were grateful for the sale, in that I was the only customer in the store. Today, The Morning Call reported that City Center Investments (J.B. Reilly) and PPL are providing $300,000 in facade grants for the remaining merchants of Hamilton Street, just beyond the NIZ zone.  Only a few years ago the city provided grants to many of these same stores, also for facade work, as reported then on this blog. One could conclude that shopping lacks on Hamilton Street for factors other than facade problems. There was a substantial amount of shopping on Hamilton Street, prior to the wholesale demolition for the arena. However, the Administration found both the merchandise and clientele not to their liking. Although these grants will not improve commerce on Hamilton Street, they will provide cover for the forced expulsion of the underclass.

The Union Terrace Train

The Conrail engine backs across Walnut Street, as it delivers a flatbed of large granite slaps and blocks to the Wentz Memorial Company, by 20th and Hamilton Streets. Years earlier, the spur route extended across Hamilton Street and terminated at the building across from school district stadium, now occupied by the park department. On it's run to Wentz's, it went through the auto junkyard, continued on past the now closed Allentown Metal Works, and crossed the trestle in Lehigh Parkway. At Union Terrace the track was next to the former ice skating pond, behind the WPA Amphitheater Stage Mound. This photograph was taken by Dave Latshaw in the 1979, and is part of the Mark Rabenold collection. Rabenold is a local train historian, specializing in Allentown's former branch lines.

reprinted from September 2011

The Train Of Lehigh Parkway

With the 15th Street Bridge closed, as people detour over the  Schreibers stone arch bridge,  few will be aware of the industrial past surrounding them. The Barber Quarry railroad branch line crossed the road, just south of the bridge. On the left was the Union Carbine's Linde plant, the concrete loading dock is still visible. Although the last train ran in the early 1980's, the wooden railroad trestle is still there, to the west and south of the bridge. The area is now used as part of the disc golf course. The photograph was taken by Dave Latshaw in 1976, and is part of the Mark Rabenold Collection.

revised from December 2010

Allentown Archeology

When it comes to the history of industrial Allentown, the railroad buffs are among the current experts. Our heavy manufacturing base moved it's materials on the tracks of several railroads. The Front Street area was crisscrossed with tracks and sidings. The West End Branch ran along Sumner Avenue, crossed Tilghman Street, looped around 17th Street and ended near 12th and Liberty. The Barber Quarry Branch ran along the Little Lehigh until it then followed Cedar Creek. It crossed Hamilton Street near the current Hamilton Family Restaurant and ended at what is now the Park Department Building. The rail buffs are current day archeologists, looking for remnants of those glory days. Shown above is a portion of the Barber Quarry pier and track. This is at the bottom of Lehigh Street hill, near the former bank call center, near the former Acorn Hotel, in a former city still called Allentown.
photo courtesy of Mike Huber, Coplay
related posts
The Train of Lehigh
Parkway
The World of Mirth
Lehigh Valley Railroad Piers
Depot at Overlook Park

reprinted from March 2011

Lehigh Parkway Elementary School

This past Thursday I returned to my first alma mater, Lehigh Parkway Elementary School, where I graduated in 1953. At that time, Lehigh Parkway Elementary School only went up to 2nd grade. For the remainder of elementary school, 3th through 6th, we Kids Of The Parkway took the school bus to Jefferson Elementary, at S. 8th and St. John Streets. The school has since been enlarged, with two additional sections. The security personnel were diligence in granting me entry, despite having made prior arrangements. Although my old and faded 2nd grade picture, marked NO Entry, is still taped to the principal's door jam, it seemed implausible that they could recognize me, 59 years later. I was there to see the Dome Theater, an inflated dome where the kids see a 180 degree omni-max type production. The edu-tainment is provided by a Michigan company, which has six such domes circulating the country. The operator and school have a choice of twenty six different presentations, depending on age and interest of the audience. In the coming months I'm going to attempt to visit Jefferson, Raub and Allen.

Kids Of The Parkway

There were hundreds of us, we were the baby boomers. The neighborhood was built for returning GI's, and the streets were named after the planes of WW2; Liberator, Catalina, and Coronado. The twin homes were wedged between Jefferson Street and the southern ridge above Lehigh Parkway. Now called Little Lehigh Manor, we knew it simply as Lehigh Parkway, and we had our own school.

Historical Fact:
The original part of the school building contained four classrooms, a teacher's room, and a health room. It replaced the Catalina Avenue School which existed in a home near the present site. Lehigh Parkway received national publicity because it was being build as a result of the new neighborhood. Thus, the "Neighborhood School Concept" was born.








Because of the school and the park, the neighborhood was really self contained. The Lehigh SuperMarket on Lehigh Street was within walking distance. Soon, FoodFair would build their first large Supermarket, also on Lehigh Street, which was even closer. Today it has developed into The Parkway Shopping Center. We kids enjoyed our own Halloween Parade and Easter Egg hunt.






Because there were so many of us, Parkway Elementary only went through 2nd. grade. We would take the bus to Jefferson Elementary for grades 3 through 6.

Historical Fact:
Jefferson Elementary used to be a high school, and for years, it had separate girls' and boys' entrances. These entrances were turned into windows at some point, but the exterior of the building still has the two entrances marked.

These were some of my friends from 3th grade. They all lived in the Parkway. Not only were they all boys, only yesterday, 56 years later, I learned the name of the girl I'm holding hands with in the May Day picture above.

Historical Facts from Allentown School District Website

ADDENDUM: other Parkway Neighborhood Posts,
Time Capsule
Allentown On My Mind

reprinted from January 2010

The Successful Revisionism of Edwin Pawlowski

Last night, City Council took the only option that they and Mayor Ed Pawlowski had to counter bad governance by his predecessor, Roy Afflerbach, so says The Morning Call. Since Ed has been mayor, the paper is on no less than it's sixth reporter, none of which were from the area. This morning, the Call's readers find this; The lease plan is the boldest step taken in Pawlowski's effort to stop Allentown's financial hemorrhaging as a result of several generous pensions for city police and firefighters. Under contracts negotiated under former Mayor Roy Afflerbach.... After taking office, Pawlowski renegotiated contracts with both departments, but the damage was done. Pawlowski did not renegotiate the contracts. They expired, and the new ones negotiated under his watch are supposedly less generous, time will tell. In 2005, Pawlowski the candidate for mayor, had a power point presentation about the future costs of the police pension. He said that if elected, he would make adjustments to meet that cost his number one job. He never said that he would wait 8 years, then propose leasing Allentown's primary asset for 50 years. Last night's lease approval is because of Pawlowski's failure to fulfill his first campaign pledge, and having an actual plan beyond a power point presentation. Eight years and six reporters later, he gets away with this revisionism, but for this post, by a blogger who sat on the podium with him in 2005.

Tonight's Water Vote In Allentown

Earlier this week, Julio Guridy said I'm not sure how I'm going to vote on the water lease. That quote brought a smile to my usually dour face, I'm sure how he's going to vote. Julio should be forgiven for that incredible utterance, it's not easy presiding over civil unrest. I know that, because often I was on the other side of the dais, leading the torches and pitchforks. The circus, called Allentown City Council, never really judges the dog and pony shows on their merit, and in real time. Those decisions are made before hand, by a higher pay grade. Although the fat lady sings tonight, one council member may be allowed to join Eichenwald, and vote against the lease. 6 to 1, or 5 to 2, it won't matter, but could help Ray O'Connell in the primary, after a recent disclosure.

photocredit:The Morning Call

Callahan's Official Blogger

The Callahan Campaign For Northampton Executive has designated Bernie O'Hare as it's official blogger. Callahan told me this afternoon that He's everywhere I go, it's a little unsettling. . The hope is that with the official status, O'Hare will limit himself to campaign events. Callahan's wife and family hope to regain some of their privacy. O'Hare has published 73 posts on Callahan since the campaign began, including 67 photographs of the candidate.

You Sell The Milk, Not The Cow

I attended part of this meeting, held ironically on Earth Day, but left feeling depressed because I could see which way the wind was blowing.. Drinking water is as important as the air we breathe and Allentown is rushing to hand over its best asset to a known violator of DEP standards... As of now, I think they are set to vote 6-1 in favor on Thursday night with only one day to read the report they commissioned! I respect anyone who runs for office and serves the public, however, 3 of our 7 councilpersons were appointed, not elected.... However, this is not just about numbers. It is also about service, control of clean and adequate drinking water, sewage and water main maintenance and repairs, the loss of many good city workers, union bumping, etc. etc.. And lookout- if we get a huge snowstorm- be prepared to wait a much longer time for a snow plow to come down your street because there will be many fewer plow operators. I spent 18 years as a manager for the City of Allentown and I can say that there was no better managed or sophisticated operation than our Water and Sewer departments. I believe that City Council should understand what they are voting on and that there are cheaper and more effective ways to solve Allentown's budget woes. If you lived here in Allentown around 1998-2002 when our trash contractor violated our contract, almost on a daily basis, by not picking up the trash, etc., you might imagine what a nightmare it might be if our water sources become contaminated or diminish or the private companies want to take more of our drinking water to sell or decide to divert the best drinking water elsewhere and leave Allentown drinking Lehigh River water.....As one of our best former Councilman said- 'You sell the milk-NOT the cow'. This deal may look good on paper for 10-20 years but after that, God only knows... With global climate change drinking water is going to be more valuable than oil in some places. Please Ask them to slow down the process, and truly consider the alternatives. I think each councilperson should be asked to explain WHAT IS THE RUSH and WHY THIS DEAL IS THE BEST SOLUTION. And maybe it is. I don't really know but I would rather not break something that is not broken to solve the city budget problems. ... OK I need to get off the soapbox now...
Betsy Morris Levin 

The above comment, which I  condensed, was written by Betsy Morris Levin,  and appeared on an article by Randy Kraft on the WFMZ website.

Slaughter Of The Innocents

Much of the dogma, liturgy and shrines of the Coptic Church deal with the Holy Family's stay in Egypt, when they fled the Slaughter of the Innocents. With of the fall of various despots in the middle east, the iron fists which protected religious minorities are no longer there. Particularly affected, are the ancient Coptic Christians of Egypt. Saint Mena Coptic Orthodox Church dates back to the 6th century, and was rebuilt in 725 AD. It was put to the torch by a mob on Saturday, while the army stood by.
reprinted from May, 2011

UPDATE: There is a saying in the Middle East,  First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people. Close to a million Jews were driven out of Arab lands after 1948. Last week they came for the American people, in the Boston Marathon Massacre. Although it was at least the fourth attack in United States, the politically correct media still asked why?

An Honest Broker

An honest broker should give impartial analysis on a given subject. In the reality of the consulting world, sometimes that information is massaged to justify a wanted conclusion. Last night, Allentown City Council was told by The Pennsylvania Economy League that a new Allentown water authority would cost the ratepayers more than the Lehigh County Authority, which won the bid for the city's system. The League was hired by City Council to assist and justify their upcoming vote. They claim that a new Allentown Authority wouldn't be tax free, because it would be formed to pay for the police pension. They claim that other factors would also cause an Allentown Authority to have higher costs than the LCA. I do know that where there is a will, there is a way. The pension shortfall does not occur until 2015. A non-profit Authority could be currently formed with no connection to the police pension. Only two weeks ago Allentown found a way to accept the LCA bid, even though their charter was not extended for the full term of the lease. Allentonians of memory remember when The Allentown Parking Authority was formed, to assume costs associated with new parking decks. Dan Poresky, a water lease opponent, feels that even if more cost did occur, it would be worth it for the citizens of Allentown to retain ownership of their water system.

The School Dilemma

There's a couple of conflicting articles about the Allentown School System budget dilemma on the local radar. Scott Armstrong, School Director, says that all options are being deployed against the shortfall; maximum tax increase allowed by law, layoffs, and spending down the reserve. Joanne Jackson, School Director, says that her fellow directors must do more. Armstong has suggested a teacher wage concession. Jackson, I suppose, would use more reserve funds. This dilemma is not new to older Allentown tax payers. Usually by the mid summer the State restores some of the funding. Likewise, the school system has a habit of staffing based on grants, which will always run out. As a payer of state taxes, I'm not a big fan of the NIZ. That zone was split into three sections; Downtown, Riverfront, and thankfully, The Sacred Heart Hospital. Perhaps it should have been four, including the Allen High Campus. Amazing how much creativity can be applied to finance private development, and how little toward public education.

Marginalizing In Allentown

Carmen Bell,Alfonso Todd,Julio Guridy, Ray O'Connell, Jeff Glazier, David Melman, Kim Velez

The Morning Call continues to marginalize the opposition candidates in Allentown's City Council race. Thursday evening, April 18th, four of the challengers met three of the incumbents at the NAACP Candidate Forum. Although the article, which featured the water lease issue, was on the top of page seven in the hard copy, as opposed to the usual bottom position, the article contained no photograph. The photo above is borrowed from a challenger's facebook page. As the article was presented, the incumbents were quoted on the first page, while the challengers are not mentioned until the continued portion, five pages later. The incumbents favor the water lease, while the challengers take exception to the plan. One incumbent, Cythnia Moto remains out of the country, recuperating from an illness. One challenger, Daryl Hendricks, seems to be dodging the fray. Hendricks, a retiring police captain, may find the water lease issue best avoided, since the lease was necessitated by police pensions.

photocredit:Just Uniq Productions

Trolley To Dorney Park

When the Allentown-Kutztown Traction (Trolley) Company purchased Dorney Park in 1901, trolley companies were buying or building amusement parks all across the country. Perhaps the most famous was Coney Island. Usually located between two cities serviced by the company, it was a plan to increase weekend rider-ship. Passengers could spend a day at the park, swimming, picnicking, and partaking of the rides and amusements. Through merger, the trolley would become the Allentown-Reading Traction Company, whose line began just south of Hamilton, on 7th Street. The line went west on Walnut Street, and then followed the Cedar Creek to the park. The roller coaster was built over the tracks in 1923, the year that the Allentown-Reading sold the park to the Plarr family.  Trolley service would continue to 1934.

Jim Layland contributed to this post.

Dear School Board

The following email was sent to members of the Allentown School Board, Mayor Pawlowski and a school administrator.

Scott Armstrong

April 18, 2013
 Dear Board Members, First and foremost I want to say that this email is solely from me and is not on behalf of any other person or entity. I know emotions are high right now. I also know that you can state your views in a professional & respectful way. I have continually watched Scott Armstrong and his unprofessional behavior. He belittles people, talks to them in a condescending tone and then has the audacity to glare at people when they make statements or ask questions that he disagrees with or challenges his point of view. He may well be an intelligent, professional man trying to do what he feels is best for ASD and its students. It is one thing for him to treat adults with sarcasm but seeing him treat children that way is appalling. These are some of the very students he has been elected to protect and educate. He is being an abusive bully. When I sit and watch his antics and his disrespect of others I feel I am watching a somewhat educated version of comedian Jeff Dunham’s fictitious Bubba J. character, a man who is anything but professional, ethical or politically correct. His treatment of the Student Representatives to the Board is what has caused me to write this email. I know there are rules and regulations that the Board must follow. It is time for the Board to step up and do something about Mr. Armstrong’s behavior.
Carolyn Schafer 

Scott Armstrong send the following reply to the same email list.

Carolyn Schafer, Thank you for your concern regarding my “behavior” at school board meetings. With all due respect my response to you is that I have every right to say what I say and will continue to address the issues squarely and as I see fit.
Scott Armstrong

It is apparent that Armstrong certainly annoys Ms. Schafer, who is an officer with the Teacher's Union, but was writing independently of that affiliation. I'll grant Ms. Schafer that Scott does have mannerisms that could be interpreted as sardonic, but she goes on to approach character assassination. She goes on to describe him as an abusive bully. Bullying is the current hot button sin of education. It's nice that Ms. Schafer was treated to such gentlemanly behavior by previous school directors, but Armstrong was elected by the voters, and only they should decide his future on the school board.

Win, Place or Show With The Morning Call

The paper has been giving the water lease controversy good play, but I can't say the same about those candidates opposed to the lease. Although the digital version of the paper has treated the challengers well enough, the problem lies with the print edition. Independent candidate for mayor, Michael Donovan, had his initial announcement on the bottom of the 6th page. Yesterday, the same dismal spot was reserved for the council candidates opposing the water lease. It's my observation that the paper, for the most part, has two different audiences. Although the digital subscribers may now outnumber the old hard copy folks, it's those very dinosaurs who comprise the super voters. While the reporter, Emily Opilo, has been being fair with her writing, the layout editor has given the candidates poor placement.

Thank You Senator Toomey

As the country is reeling from the cowardly terrorist act in Boston this week, local Senator Toomey exhibited extraordinary courage in co-sponsoring the gun background check. Toomey's base is ultra conservative, and he hurt himself with that constituency. With the proposal failing to pass the Senate, his credit with the gun control advocates will be a forgotten moment. Toomey said he was doing it because He felt it was the right thing to do. Apparently Capital Hill isn't ready for any changes in gun control, because the Toomey-Manchin amendment only closed gaping loopholes.

Lifestyle Coaching

With only an exception or two, I'm not a big fan of the local blogosphere. But, with The Morning Call Blogger night coming up, I thought I would surf around and get reacquainted. I noticed that one blogger has deemed herself a LifeStyle Coach, for vegetable eating or such. She charges $75 a session. She claims that it helped her lose weight and cleared her complexion. I have decided to also become a coach. If you suffer from undue optimism, give me a call. If your friends resent your positive attitude, give me a call, I'm well qualified. In the picture shown,  I'm receiving the Cynic Award, which I didn't deserve.  I charge $65 a session. Most of my students will be disappointed.

The Mutation Called Democracy In Allentown

This coming May 21st will be the fall general election for Allentown City Council. All candidates are of the same party, Democratic, meaning that who wins in the primary, wins. (Unless an independent(s) decide to run before the deadline in July) Although there is only one person running for the two year seat, incumbent Joe Davis, nine Democrats are competing for four seats, including the four incumbents. Today a slate of the anti-water lease candidates held a news conference. My associate, Bernie O'Hare attended the conference and will write about it late this evening. He will paraphrase their speeches, then print their speeches verbatim, also including a video of them giving their speech. I will soon be presenting some posts on what I think of the other bloggers in the Lehigh Valley. UPDATE: Although in Allentown's mutated democracy all candidates are Democrats, not all the Democrats on May 21st are the same. There is an opportunity for those voters who seek change at City Council, but just in the primary election.

The History Of Union Terrace

The area now known as Joe Daddona Park has a rich history. The stone arch bridge dates back to 1828. If Lehigh County had it's way, it would already be gone. I'm proud to have played a part in it's reprieve. Today, I start a series of posts which will eventually lead to another Walk In The Park, this time in the area known for most of my life as Union Terrace. The park consists of the former city ice skating pond and the WPA amphitheater. This blog previously featured the train of Union Terrace, which was near the end of the former Barber Quarry Branch line. Talking of trains, shown above is the Joe Daddona house, which was originally the freight station of the Allentown and Reading Traction Company.

Reilly Gain, Masonic Pain

The Masonic Temple is perhaps the remaining architectural wonder of Allentown. The five story Classic Revival building took over two years to construct, opening in 1926. The large ritual meeting rooms are adorned with murals. General Harry Trexler was a Mason, and largely responsible for Allentown's Temple, which is on the list of significant historic buildings. Unfortunately, after almost ninety years, it's future is in jeopardy. It is essentially supported by one large commercial tenant, an accounting firm which rents the office space on the first floor for $10,000 a month. The accountant will be moving into J.B. Reilly's new office tower when completed. The Masons are hoping to find ten smaller tenants for $1000 each to fill the void, or perhaps twelve at $800. The only certain thing is that their good fortune with a large dependable tenant appears to be over. When Pawlowski cuts the ribbon for Reilly's new tenant, he'll be actually pulling the plug on an important part of west Allentown's history. He'll give mouth service that his department of Musical Chairs will help find them a tenant.

Water Lease Injunction In Order

According to Chris Casey, over at Lehigh Valley Political Blog, Mike Hanlon, Allentown City Clerk, is the one who initially informed Tim Benyo, County Chief Clerk of Voter Registration, that the Water Lease Ballot Petition didn't conform with state law. Previous news reports indicated that this determination was made after the Allentown City Clerk delivered the petitions to the Voter Registration Office. If Casey's allegation is correct, then the city  conspired against it's own citizens. The City Solicitor had reviewed the petition and imposed guidelines. Under this review, the petitioners were misled to believe that their efforts were conforming with applicable timelines and laws.

UPDATE:  This afternoon I discussed the above allegation with one of the leaders of the Water Lease Ballot Petition.  He does not consider the revelation "actionable",   and will not  seek  an injunction.  He's hopeful that some members of council will change their mind  from fear of voter backlash,  and being educated by his group's presentations, which promote Allentown starting it's own water authority.  He has much more faith in the flexibility of council than I do.

The Trains of Allentown

As a blogger, at the moment, I need a rest from those bureaucracies which I find so exasperating, and perhaps visa versa. I suppose it would be a good time to stop and reminisce some more about trains, both model and real. Shown above was the real deal when the 0 gauge was king. Before I go too far, let me state that growing up I never had a train. For a few years I had a friend whose father, looking back, was rather obsessed with the hobby. He had the transformer shown. It was 275 watts, and could operate four trains and an assortment of accessories. For many years, Bloch's Hobby Store, in the 400 block of 7th Street, was a model train expert. Trains were also sold at Pollard's Firestone Tire Store, also on 7th Street.

I've presented a number of Barber Quarry branch line photographs in previous posts. The one below shows the siding at the former Traylor Engineering Plant on S. 10th Street, now owned by the AEDC. About 20 years ago the track was removed for the entire  length of the former rail line.
  photogragh by Mark Rabenold, 1987

Playing With Trains

When I was a kid growing up in the early 1950's, some of my friends had large, elaborate model train layouts in their basement. This was the hobby of their fathers, and the modeling was first class. During the day, these men worked in real factories, many of which had train sidings, to bring raw material and take away finished product. Traylor engineering on S. 10th Street was a steel fabricator of large scale. It's finished products would often require a flat car. The factory, which had it's own switcher, was served by the Barber Quarry Branch line. Eventually, as the country's manufacturing base waned, so did the demand for oversize products. Flatbed trucks replaced the trains for the smaller, less frequent product and the branch line was dismantled. Although Traylor closed, the factory continued as Allentown Metal, and hosted Barak Obama during his first term. By the last campaign, Mitt Romney used the then closed factory as a backdrop when visiting Allentown. During the last decades of operation, the company never attributed it's difficulty to lack of train service. Although the company also never cited property taxes as a contributing factor in it's demise, last year Allentown Economic Development Corporation sought KOZ status for the closed factory. They also received a federal grant to rebuilt the former rail line from 3th and Union Street to the 10th Street factory. This year the AEDC purchased the factory. My friend's fathers built their models and pursued their hobbies with their own money. The AEDC pursues their nonsense with our money. They should be disbanded.

Pawlowski Operative Gets Free Spin

Although Kim Velez regaining a ballot position wasn't Mike Fleck's plan, the Morning Call did allow him some damage control this morning. The reporter wrote , Despite the decision, questions remain about the validity of the signatures on Velez's petitions. Fleck said fewer than 90 of the approximately 120 signatures Velez submitted were valid. Petitions can be formally challenged in court, but the deadline to do so passed March 19. If the reporter knew that the deadline has passed, then she knew that any question about the signatures is now a moot point. She then allowed Fleck to assault Velez even more."It's a legal conundrum," Fleck said. "If she was allowed to be challenged, I firmly believe Kim Velez wouldn't be allowed to be on the ballot. Her withdrawing from the ballot allowed her to run." The real conundrum is why the paper reported Fleck's statement. Velez was allowed to be challenged, by anyone of her opponents, before March 19th. Apparently Fleck didn't firmly believe that a legitimate challenge would have succeeded, or they would have done so. Instead, they resorted to intimidation. Fleck ironically has created more publicity for Velez than his own clients, for which he is being paid.

Morning Call Blog Contest

If you vote for Bernie O'Hare and me today, we'll gladly buy you a hamburger tomorrow. Bernie and I have decided to enter The Morning Call Blog Contest. Unfortunately, rather than being judged by journalists, it's a simple popularity contest. We need you to vote for our blogs, and place the votes every day, until April 22nd. Please consider Bernie (Lehigh Valley Ramblings) for the Politics category, and this blog (molovinsky on allentown) for Opinion. Click here to reach the contest.

The Administration's Goalie

In two very important initiatives, the Administration's advantage was  recently protected at the last second by Tim Benyo, Voter Registration Chief Clerk, an appointed position. Benyo convinced the Save The Water Coalition that they used the wrong procedure, and Kim Velez, that she couldn't withdraw her withdraw. In the Water Lease Petition Drive, the City Solicitor, Jerry Snyder, had scrutinized the law and only ruled that the circulators had to be registered voters of Allentown, and pre-registered with the City Clerk. The City Clerk also functions as the referee on citizen initiatives. When Benyo rejected the water petitions for a ballot question, were Pawlowski and Hanlon really surprised? In the Kim Velez case, Tim Benyo notarized Velez's withdraw form himself, although all petitions must be pre-notarized before being submitted to the Registers Office. Benyo indirectly acknowledged to Velez that he knew that she was approached by an attorney before withdrawing.  I have been withholding this post since Velez withdrew, waiting for yesterday's court decision. Although I previously posted that Brennan acted in a way to deprive Velez of her rights, I felt  that adding Benyo to a possible conspiracy might injure Velez. How large of an apple cart would a judge be willing to overturn? As it turns out, delicate wording was employed in yesterday's decision to protect Brennan from repercussions. Although I withheld this post, I did contact the Water Lease Opposition and explain my suspicions. When the city took the petitions to Benyo, were they surprised that he cited differences between state law and Home Rule Charter in not accepting them? Who really did the research to justify that opinion? Although Benyo was a legal expert in rejecting the water petitions, three weeks later he personally notarized and implemented the withdraw from an obviously intimidated candidate.

As The World Turns In Allentown

As politics go in the little league of Allentown, which is anything other than the Pawlowski machine, Kim Velez was reinstated this morning by Judge Michelle Varricchio. According to Bernie O'Hare, who attended the hearing, Brennan's story was weak, and the best he could ask for was that the judge wouldn't use the term duress in deciding what had transpired. Brennan did concede that he was working for Mike Fleck, who represents Pawlowski, Guridy and Moto among others. Ms. Velez accepted last place on the ballot, rather than press to have the ballot positions redrawn. I used the term little league because The Morning Call put Michael Donovan's mayoral announcement on page six of today's paper. As an independent, I was treated in such a second class fashion in 2005, but then there was both a Democrat and Republican running, and I was third man. Hopefully, Donovan will get better positioning as the campaign unfolds. O'Hare will write a more detailed account of the hearing later today.

The Allentown Arena Sideshow

Years ago, when the circus came to town, it had sideshows. The purpose of these attractions was to make sure that by the time you left the circus grounds, your pockets were empty of any spare cash. In a similar fashion, the politically correct term of Community Benefit is being used to extract even more tax dollars. The Community College is proudly going to be operating the job training program, connected with the arena complex. I don't know who they will be training for what, but it won't be the doctors for the sports medicine center, at least I hope not. It won't be the bankers for National Penn Headquarters. Maybe they could train their students to smoke cigarettes, and help Joe Topper extract more CHIP tax from Pennsylvania for his mortgage debt service. A recent article by the Philadelphia Inquirer noted the decrease in state funds going to CHIP, but the reporter apparently didn't realize that the difference is helping Allentown's chosen few.  Alan Jennings is extracting developer fees for his small business incubator division, despite the fact that 7th Street is apparently already 90% occupied. CUNA,  and the other well intentioned who requested Community Benefit,  inadvertently gave  license for these sideshows. If the powers that be really wanted to feature minority business people serving low income clientele, they would have left Hamilton Street as it was.

The WPA Walk At Lehigh Parkway

A Walk In The Park began at the spring pond, adjacent to the parking lot at Robin Hood. I explained how I prevailed upon the park watershed manager in 2010,, Mike Gilbert,  to uncover the stones surrounding the pond, and trim back the brush from the miniature bridge. Mike has retired, and unfortunately, once again the pond stones are being overgrown. The group traveled east, along the bridle path on the north side of the creek.
Frank Whelan took over the show at the historic lime kiln, explaining plans for a railroad line which never materialized, during the Civil War era. We proceeded down the path, and from the bank surveyed  the condition of the island. I pointed out the location of the former bridge, and the size of the man made island before being elongated by silt. Last stop on that side of the creek was the recovered portion of the Boat Landing, which I excavated in 2009 with help from what is now the Allentown WPA Association.

 We crossed over to the other side of the creek, and began our stroll back on the it's south side. Another historic kiln graces the path, opposite the island.

 Last stop on our tour was the impressive double stairwell.  Originally there was a spring and small pond included with the structure, which has been filled in a number of years ago. I assure you that there was more to the story at each stop. Please join us when we explore the next park.

photos by Karen El Chaar, Director-Friends Of Allentown Parks

The Fountain Park Flood Wall

Last week I used this photo in regard to the water lease controversy. It shows the rear of the Allentown water plant on Martin Luther King Drive. Although I identified the railroad track as part of the former Barber Quarry Spur route, a mystery remained. The rail line itself was on the south side of the Little Lehigh Creek. It would past Schreibers Bridge, and end up past Union Terrace, behind the present day Hamilton Family Dinner. An inquiry to Mark Rabenold, local train historian, was in order. Wow... that's a rare photo, indeed! What you have there is the remnant of the siding that used to cross a short trestle/bridge over the Little Lehigh creek and once serviced the city's water works. You're right in that it came off the Barber branch. According to Dave R. Latshaw's article on the Barber branch in the 1988 Proceedings of the Lehigh County Historical Society.

"Initially coal was unloaded from hopper cars standing on a siding located along the south bank of Little Lehigh Creek and was carried across the creek by donkeys pulling two-wheel carts over a bridge built by Col. Harry C. Trexler directly behind the pump station. In later years a conveyor operated by electricity hauled coal from cars spotted on branch track to storage bins at the pump station. Circa 1910, the water department constructed a railroad bridge from the branch to the pump station. This bridge allowed the movement of coal in hopper cars directly to the boiler house....In August 1936, because flooding of Little Lehigh creek on occasion threatened the pump station and filtration plant, municipal authorities approved construction of a flood wall along the creek's north bank. In addition, a pit was built to allow dumping coal between the tracks and a conveyor then lifted coal from the pit to a coal pile on the east side of the boiler house." "Because only one car could be dumped at a time, the branch train pushed a car loaded with pea coal to the dump pit at least twice per week." "Railroad service to the water department ended in the 1946-1947 era."

The wall, which still protects Fountain Park from flooding, was another project of the WPA.