The Trexler Greenhouse

The former greenhouse at the current Trexler Park was the pride of Harry and Mary Trexler. The General was very specific in his will about its future;

I, Harry C. Trexler declare this to be my last Will and Testament: ......into the Treasury of the City of Allentown, for the perpetual maintenance of said Park, (Trexler) as well as the Greenhouse thereon located. This bequest shall include all the plants and other contents of said Greenhouse (1929)

Although nobody in charge of Allentown remembers, the greenhouse was a thing of wonder... Full of banana trees and other tropical plants, it was a true escape from winter for all visitors. The park director at the time touted all the money in maintenance to be saved if it was demolished. A couple years later the same director replanted the creek banks by the intersection of Cedar Crest Blvd. and Cetronia Rd.. That planting cost $750,000. I recall the price, because Longwood Gardens built a new greenhouse for that same amount, we had just lost our greenhouse, and only had a new creek weedwall to show in its place.  

Several years ago Allentown Park Department cut down all those plantings, and we now have nothing to show for our loss of the greenhouse. Even back then, I was an advocate for the traditional park system. Current visitors to Trexler Park don't notice that the weed wall has been cut down, and certainly don't know that they lost a beautiful greenhouse in the backstory.

reprinted from 2014. Postcard of Trexler duckpond from the glory days of the Allentown Park System

ADDENDUM MARCH 8, 2023: I haven't taken the Trexler Trust to task for over a decade...I feared less money for the WPA as retribution.  However, I'm at the age now where my outreach is limited to this blog, and nobody else will speak out.

For an era, the Trust was too tied to the city administrations. Perhaps that pattern started with it agreeing to the city demolishing the greenhouse, as explained above. The Trust was very tight with the Pawlowski administration, with some members being part of Pawlowski's kitchen cabinet. 

Of late they have been too methodical... For instance, they want their expert consultant to study what exact mortar mix to use when repointing the WPA stonework, before dispensing any funding. These walls are not the Washington Monument or the Statue of Liberty...but repairs must be done in a timely fashion. 

The city shouldn't be seeking special grants and gifts to repair the WPA structures... The upkeep required should be part and parcel of the regular budget. Their importance has come second, third and fourth place to numerous recreational fads and events. 

I'd like to tell you that I'm optimistic about the future of the WPA structures, but I'm not.  I will however use this blog to point out the ongoing neglect.

Saving The Spring Pond

As a small boy growing up in the twin homes above Lehigh Parkway, I would go down the steep wooded ravine and cross the Robin Hood Bridge. The stone lined spring pond and miniature bridge was just the first in a series of wonderful WPA constructions to explore. Last year, when I organized the reclamation of the Boat Landing, my memory turned to the pond. Although overgrown with several inches of sod, I knew the treasure was still savable.





In the spring of 2010 I met Mike Gilbert of the Park Department, and pitched the idea of a partial restoration. On May 26th, I posted A Modest Proposal, which outlined my hopes for the pond. By July, Gilbert had the Park Department clear off the remaining stones, and clean up around the miniature bridge.


Park Director Greg Weitzel  indicated to me that the pond features uncovered will be maintained. Any further clearing would be at the discretion of Mike Gilbert. In our conversation he also stated that there are virtually no funds available for the preservation of the WPA icons.







I will attempt to organize a group and contributions for this most worthy cause. Between the Spring Pond and The Boat Landing there was once a bridge to the island. Wouldn't it be nice if a small boy could go exploring.

above reprinted from 2010

UPDATE August 2013Mike Gilbert has retired, and the Park Department has a new director. Although grass and sod are starting to again cover the remaining stones that surround the pond, the miniature bridge is still visible. I will make it my mission to again pitch the new personnel.

UPDATE June 18, 2014. The grass and sod has reclaimed the stones that surround the pond. Only the very top of the miniature bridge is still visible to those who know that it's there. Unless there is an immediate intervention, it's days are numbered.
HISTORY IS FRAGILE

UPDATE February 2017:In 2015, in cooperation with Friends of Allentown Parks, I supervised college volunteers to clear the new sod off the pond stones, and the new bush off the miniature bridge. Allentown is on its third park director since this post was first written, and has acquired two large parcels to create new parks. To be planning additional parks, when our existing park features are left to abandonment, is incredibility poor management.

UPDATE May 1, 2018:  This past weekend the pond, miniature bridge and spring channel to the creek were once again cleared.  The work was done by volunteers from Faith Church, Asbury Church, Igesia De Fe and Salem Bible Church,  through Karen El-Chaar, director of Friends Of The Parks. Although the park department provided assistance in the two clean ups over the past several years,  they have  not provided ongoing maintenance to the site.  Understand that in the past few years they have constructed the exercise area at Jordan Park, the cement disc golf pads in the parkway and other recreational features. It is long overdue that the WPA structures be returned to the regular park budget and schedule.

UPDATE JANUARY 14, 2020:  Karen El-Chaar is now Director Of Parks. Hopefully she will have a soft spot for this particular WPA structure. I continue trying through this blog and facebook to keep these structures on the public agenda.

UPDATE MARCH 7, 2023: There's a new park director, Mandy Tolino. I haven't met Tolino, but I suspect that this blog might appear on her radar.  Those who visit the pond this spring will discover that the sod has once again overgrown the surrounding stonework. It is my understanding that Tolino has a background with the Delaware&Lehigh Trails, and hopefully will develop an appreciation of our unique WPA structures.

The Little Bridge Of Lehigh Parkway

A few years ago, new and young visitors to the park would have no idea that a magnificent miniature bridge crossed a spring run to the Little Lehigh. Certainly, such a stone construction wasn't necessary to cross the 24 inch waterway. It was built in a era of masonry art, fueled by the Great Depression, and funded by Roosevelt's WPA. Over the last decade, budgetary cutbacks and environmentalists demanding riparian zones, justified allowing it to be consumed by brush and saplings. In 2010, I persuaded Mike Gilbert, park department manager, to partially clear around the bridge. Although a tree now blocks it's southern approach, the bridge has been given a reprieve on its destruction.

above reprinted from 2012

photo/molovinsky

ADDENDUM MARCH 6, 2023:While it has been over a decade since I had the miniature bridge uncovered, I'm sorry to report that the WPA structures still remain a low priority with the city. While the wall into Lehigh Parkway has been restored out of necessity to retain entrance to the park, neglect for the other structures continues.  

Although I knocked on the door of every park director since the Daddona administration,  I will not be introducing myself to the new director. After all these years, my advocacy will now be limited to this blog.

Reilly Folds In Nick Miller

I was disappointed, but not surprised, when Pat Browne moved his long time Allentown center city office into a new J. B. Reilly office tower.  The debt service on those office towers are met with our diverted state taxes, enabled by Browne's boutique NIZ legislation. 

I am disappointed, but not surprised that new Pa. Senator Nick Miller has taken over the same space in Reilly's building. 

When constituents visit the office for help, they have already lost, before they enter the door. Their state taxes, which were going to infrastructure and children's health insurance, now go to Miller's landlord.

It didn't take Reilly long to train Miller.  I'm sure Miller will be offended by this post, but he needn't worry, apparently nobody else but me cares about such things.

The Art Of Jessica Lenard

Jessica started painting in a class at the Museum School in Boston while at Emerson College, and continued until her passing in 2016.  In addition to painting,  she also expressed herself through print making, and even pottery. 

Over the years she was represented in numerous shows in NYC. Locally, her work was last seen in a retro show at Muhlenberg and Baum in 2017.

I have been charged with finding representation for the collection of her remaining work. I'm seeking an agent and/or gallery motivated by her unique art.

Jessica Lenard website

Jessica Lenard art facebook

shown above Thelonious Monk's Funeral, mixed media

Molovinsky vs. Parking Authority

Although the Morning Call went out of their way to under-report it, there was a third candidate in the 2005 mayoral election,  independent Michael Molovinsky.  During the campaign I held three press conferences... One about subsidized housing, and the other two about the Parking Authority. The paper only reported on one,  and for that one they invited the Authority's director at the time, Linda Kauffman, to refute my allegations.  Of course the paper never revealed their connections to the Authority. 

The Authority had bailed Park & Shop out of the dwindling downtown parking business by buying their lots.  The malls on McArther Road were going full tilt, and Hamilton Street was dying a quick death.  Morning Call owner Miller owned most of Park & Shop, along with Jack Leh and Harvey Farr. 

Both the Morning Call and the Parking Authority would continue to serve the establishment and each other for the next three decades. This would include the Parking Authority purchasing Morning Call shed property, such as their parking deck. The Morning Call never reported that the Authority fabricated merchant surveys to justify meter increases to Allentown City Council, as documented by this blogger. More recently, not clarifying the nexus between the Authority, the Morning Call and the NIZ.  The Morning Call was included in the NIZ map, although it was across Linden Street from the district. Authority surface lots sold to selected developers at taxpayer inconvenience, was also not clarified.  

Wednesday's Morning Call article about ticketing parents waiting to pick up their children from school, was the first article critical of the Authority in memory. Of course the Morning Call no longer has assets to protect,  they're no longer even a tenant in their own previous building. While the recent article was a welcome development, don't expect too many revelations from them...Their editor and culture is still very much establishment oriented.

I'm shown above in 2005 at a press conference on housing that the Morning Call attended, but didn't report on. I documented that the property was already remodeled and sold three times at taxpayer expense, and that the most recent subsidized "owner" had also defaulted.

above reprinted from November of 2021 

ADDENDUM MARCH 1, 2023: Recently, Betty Cauler urged me to write about abuses by the Parking Authority. I in turn urged her to organize and publicize on Allentown Chronicles, a facebook group...She did so with vigor. Enough noise was generated that both the local media and Authority Board have responded. Cauler and company may succeed in taming the beast.

Both this blog and Allentown Chronicles remain available to those confronting abuses of power.

The Morning Call Can't Spell Molovinsky

Out of frustration, J.B. and Kathleen Reilly have stopped reading the political blogs that snidely refer to downtown Allentown as Reillyville or Reillytown, so writes Scott Kraus and Matt Assad in today's feature story. Although a large portion of the article defends against criticism from this blog, including the phrases Reillyville and Reillytown, reporters and editors have once again chosen to not give attribution to molovinsky on allentown. Although perhaps J.B. has stopped reading this blog, I know that Kraus and Assad are reading these words: So boys, here's the biggie you missed today. You forgot to mention that the City gave Reilly $20 million (loaned from National Penn) in seed money, with no specifications, which he used to buy those 32 properties for $15.1 million. I say the City, because the loan was made even before the NIZ Authority was formed. You forgot to mention that some of the owners displaced by Reilly's buying spree felt intimidated, supposedly even including the possibility of eminent domain. Although you keep parroting Pawlowski's premise of risk on Reilly's part, the only real risk was ours. Although you have presented a defense against all the apparent connections, the fact remains that we now have Reillyville.

UPDATE: Kraus and Assad write; records show he(Reilly) didn't buy his first new property until March 2011 — three months after the new downtown NIZ map was adopted, and a week after the city publicly announced it was shifting the arena downtown. Public records refer to deed transfers, but when were the Agreements of Sale signed? Reilly wonders why other developers are not taking advantage of the NIZ.  Perhaps because Reilly has already purchased all the adjoining blocks? Perhaps because they are not assured that their project will be granted the same NIZ Authority approval, necessary for  the tax debt funding, being enjoyed by Reilly?  

above reprinted from February of 2013

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 28, 2023: A decade has passed and not much has changed about the Morning Call's reportage on Reilly and the NIZ.  Ironically, Reilly now owns the former Morning Call building, and the city is now covered by reporters who never heard of Allentown in 2013. Of course Allentown is much more Reillytown now than it was ten years ago. This past weekend even fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare seemed to pitch Reilly a soft ball. He wondered if the town seems dead, it could be because residents are at home, like most of us. Needless to say, young professionals don't move to center city, tolerate parking in deck a block away, to stay in at night.  O'Hare goes on to explain... The NIZ is controversial, but this post [O'Hare's post]  is NOT about the wisdom of this redevelopment tool, It's here. It's whether Reilly's vision can be seen as putting Allentown in a better position than other downtowns. 

O'Hare and I agree that Hamilton Street is almost 100% Reilly.  IMO, that alone demonstrates the moral dilemma of the NIZ. I have little doubt that it was a boutique legislation for a friend, a quintessential insider deal. Reilly can keep building without corresponding occupancy, because diverted state taxes are paying his debt service. While this arrangement may be legal by the boutique NIZ state law, it is a profound conflict of interest against the taxpayers. 

Scrutiny of the NIZ  remains limited to this blog, and for my reward I remain a persona non grata.

Better From The Pagoda

When I was a kid growing up in Allentown, we would visit my cousins in Reading. Allentown and Reading seemed very similar, row houses and corner stores. My aunt owned a corner soda fountain. Those Sunday trips were special, because I could sit at the soda counter, eat ice cream and read comic books, to my content. Outside the store, you could look up and see the Pagoda, seemed sorta  magical. This weekend I returned to visit the Pagoda and the neighborhood. While the Pagoda pretty much hasn't changed, downtown Reading is devastated. Block after block is run down, with no revitalization in sight.

While this blog misses the Allentown center city of years ago,  Reading doesn't even resemble its former self.  If you visit, I suggest viewing it only from the pagoda. From that height the city looks as it always did, up close it gets very rough.

molovinsky on allentown is produced every weekday, year-round.

above reprinted from December of 2019

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 27, 2023: What brought on this reprint was weekend shootings, in both Reading and Easton. So far, there have been no shootings reported in A-town this weekend. 

There are those apologists who credit Reilly(town) with making Allentown at least look better than Reading. I prefer the organic growth of Easton, or the historic charm of Bethlehem. Hopefully, Allentown will grow culturally into its new buildings. However, that sort of change is much slower and more complicated than the current pace of demolition and cookie cutter construction taking place.

Allentown Picks Winner, Then Announces Contest Rules

In what could only happen in Allentown, the City announced the contest rules, after the winner was picked. The Morning Call dutifully reported on the murky guidelines the City will use to allow property owners use of NIZ tax funds for development. The rules come after developer J.B. Reilly had his plans approved, and even before anybody else knew such a tax incentive was available to private owners. If that wasn't enough favoritism, the City loaned Reilly $20million to do the project. As the kids now say, everything about the deal is sketchy. First of all, what I call the City is called ACIDA. This is handpicked Pawlowski Authority, used as handmaiden of convenience. The Morning Call article kindly refers to the guidelines as flexible, having wiggle room and not cast in stone. Missing from the article is that the CocaCola Park promoters complained that they never were given a chance to bid on arena management. The displaced merchants, despite two meetings with the City, were never informed that the NIZ could be used by private property owners, and the unions have already protested initial renovations by Reilly. Most glaringly missing from the article is no mention of these Bizarro sequence of events; The City will now allow public input after all the decisions were made. The City will now explain how to enter the contest, after the brass ring has been won. The article does mention that The Morning Call building is in the NIZ zone.

above reprinted from October of 2011

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 24, 2023:Back when J.B. Reilly was gobbling up the NIZ parcels, this blog and this blog alone, was reporting that one person was going to own the former mercantile district. The Morning Call, part and parcel of the NIZ deal, reported everything as progress. Over a decade later, nothing has changed about the local reportage. Pat Browne, NIZ frontman, was recently given a hero's sendoff at his state senator retirement banquet. He even has been rewarded by a clueless new governor. 

The former Hamilton Street mercantile district is now an office park. The former undesirable merchants and their undesirable merchandize have been segregated, subsidized and dressed up, over on N. 7th St.  Anybody looking for an evening out, now travels to Bethlehem. Anybody looking for any insight how this all occurred, still visits this blog.

The Historical Record

During the City Council Eminent Domain Hearing, Louie Belletieri came in about halfway during the meeting. I encouraged him to stay and say a few words. Louie stood up at the meeting's end and told City Council that they should pay the shopowners straight up. Although Louie wasn't involved with the issue before, during or after that meeting, his Godfather presentation resonated with the local newspaper reporter. In addition to quoting Louie for the coverage about eminent domain, the paper used it as the Quote Of The Week, in the weekend edition. Fortunately, for the historical record, a local documentary videophotographer was covering the meeting. Sydney "Imantrek" McKenzie captured the soul of the shareowners, the storeowners, whose lives were being bashed by the hockey puck. In addition to making documentaries, Imantrek also produces music and Grounzero, an internet magazine. He is now lending his talent to the fight to preserve Allentown's WPA icons. Like many true artists before him, he remains an outsider to the newspaper and local art establishment. 

above reprinted from October of 2011
 

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 23, 2023:We lost Louie Belletieri last week. The Morning Call and other venues have given Louie proper due for his contributions to Allentown over the decades. After Pawlowski was elected in 2005, he handed out numerous patronage jobs, including one to Louie. Louie was titled a Business Liason, and worked freelance. Although Louie probably could have had taken the check for many years, he resigned in less than two.

Making Lemonade At CNN

Don Lemon is returning to the air after a six minute training session at CNN. Needless to say the training is a joke, and the joke is on their audience. Although woke sells on CNN, Lemon's marketability apparently trumps his misogyny.  He checks so many boxes at CNN... Black, pleasant looking, pleasant talking, and gay to boot...Such newscasters don't grow on trees.

As an image makeover, don't be surprised to see him doing some special on older women. The real lesson is for CNN, not Lemon... They shouldn't allow him to talk off script...He was hired as a pretty face, not a deep thinker. Putting him in a pair of black frame glasses didn't make him any smarter, even if it worked for Anderson.

A Woman Of Letters

Barba-Del Campbell was in the hallway at the overflow Council meeting this past July on Cedar Creek Park. She handed me a handwritten letter which I put into my pocket. I met Barba-Del a few years earlier at the first meeting for the Lanta merchants. There were at least two passions in her life, activism and art; Apparently, she had a long relationship with both. This past summer, The Morning Call had a feature story about her role in commemorating Paul Robeson with a postage stamp.

I typed and printed Barba-Del's letter and faxed it along with my own to the Morning Call. Both our editorials appeared side by side in the paper. My effort resulted in a handwritten thank you note. Barba-Del didn't have a computer. I would print out pieces I wrote on the merchants or on the parks, and leave them at her "office", that would be the first table to the left at The House of Chen.

There will be a gathering this Saturday in her memory at the restaurant. Barba-Del is on the far right in photo above, which was taken after that Lanta meeting by participant Bernie O'Hare. Ann Elizabeth Schlegel and Heather Sincavage also remember this remarkable woman.

ADDENDUM:  I STOPPED INTO THE HOUSE OF CHEN TRIBUTE TO BARBA-DEL TO PAY MY RESPECTS,  THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE.
Heather Sincavage reflects on the memorial service

above reprinted from March of 2010

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 21, 2023: The above tribute to activist Barba-Del Campbell's memory is almost thirteen years old. Her memorial gathering was in a restaurant which no longer exists. Even Jenny Lim's replacement eatery in South Bethlehem recently closed.

Downtown's transition to Reillytown didn't happen without protest. This blogger and others, especially those displaced by the new sterile bland towers, spoke up here and on other alternative media. Town by then was perhaps funky, but it was organic, and real. What there is today is a news release by Reilly Real Estate, echoed by the Morning Call.

Although not all of my current readers may know who and what I'm remembering here today, nevertheless, it is my honor to reprint this post.

A 2014 Campaign Promise

 

In 2014 I ran as an independent for state representative, against the long term incumbent Republican, and a Democrat. At that time, my neighborhood was gerrymandered into the 183th district, with Julie Harhart's stronghold of Northampton. In that election Harhart won her eleventh term. 

Although I didn't even come close to winning the election, I'm glad to report that Wehr's Dam has been saved. The dam survived the machinations of the Wildlands Conservancy and a complicit board of commissioners at that time. I thank the current* board for honoring the voter's 2016 referendum. I urge  them to place Wehr's Dam under their historic district designation, to help ensure its long term future. 

My same neighborhood is now in the 132nd, represented by Mike Schlossburg. I wish it was in the 132nd in 2014. I wish I was eight years younger. I wish I was nicer.

*Diane Kelly, David Kennedy, Monica Hodges, Jacob Roth, Brad Osborne

Resurrected Life Church Bites Zion and Allentown's Hand

Reverend Gregory Edwards, after securing the iconic Zion Church for one dollar, has turned around and spat on local history. The Liberty Bell Museum rents the front portion of the basement for one dollar a year from the church...That's where the Liberty Bell was hidden during the Revolutionary War. Edwards wants a rent increase to $1000 a month!!!! 

As for the board of the former Zion Church,  they learned that their former good deed has not gone unpunished....not exactly a Christian lesson. The crass decision by the charismatic preacher is not a surprise to everyone,  just to the woke former church board. 

Unless the museum can stay in that historic place where the bell was hidden, it has no meaning. To this blogger, Edward's decision is just another erasure of Allentown's historic mercantile district. I hope the city manages to save the art deco post office at 5th and Hamilton.

Shown above is an old linen postcard of Zion Church. Even the postcard is historic, only requiring a one cent stamp. On the back of the postcard it states...This Church housed the Liberty Bell during the Revolutionary War in order to prevent its capture by the British who wished to convert the metal into bullets. It was brought to this city in a hay wagon by local farmers.

Molovinsky On Allentown is normally posted every weekday of the year. However, the above post appeared early the evening before, because of its important connection to Allentown history.

Planning Puppies Approve New Reilly Project

Before we get into this project, allow me to officially change the name of two Allentown subdivisions.  I have been referring to downtown as Reillyville. Considering that Reilly now owns the state hospital parcel,  formally aka Rittersville, downtown will now become Reillytown, and Rittersville will become Reillyville. Now that we have the new designations, let's get on with today's post.

We learn from the Morning Call that Reilly's new Reillytown project has the approval of the city planners. Although that might seem newsworthy to the new Morning Call reporter, the only thing that would be newsworthy is if they had disapproved. Only a new reporter could think that approval was anything more than a formality. I have already used the term planning puppies half a dozen times in previous approval posts.

Now, finally the project...There are actually those very excited about it, a mid size entertainment venue. The theater will hold about 1,500 people, and supposedly feature up and coming bands.  I hope that it does, but I recall the arena was supposed to have many more events than it does. I note that Symphony Hall is also very underused.  Perhaps this will be a spark that ignites some nightlife in Reillytown.  Although nobody would confuse this blog or me with a downtown cheerleader, I do wish it success.

shown above 1950's era ad for the Lyric, now called Symphony Hall.

Police Shooting In Allentown's Reillyville

We have been reading for several days in the Morning Call  about the mugger shot and killed by police. They observed him assaulting someone, and he fired on police when pursued.  While the paper has emphasized that the shooting took place at 8th and Maple, they have downplayed its proximity to 8th and Hamilton, epicenter of downtown Reillyville, aka Allentown.

The alley Maple Street separates Reilly's Hamilton Street office tower from his new apartment hive behind it on 8th. Usually in regard to violence, the police inform us that the incident was no threat to the law-abiding, which implies that it was an inter low-life altercation. We have heard nothing about the original victim, just about the aftermath. Was that victim a fellow low-life, or was it a new hive tenant? Either way, it's not reassuring for prospective hive tenants. 

The news reports indicate that there were at least two policemen at the shooting. Originally, the Reilly Corporation, CityCenter Real Estate, was to have their own security force. If Allentown police are guarding the Reilly forts, is the rest of the city receiving adequate protection?

As Molovinsky On Allentown approaches its 16th year of publication, it still must ask questions the Morning Call avoids.

photo of 8th & Maple, alley south of Hamilton, new office tower on Hamilton, new apartments to its rear.

Credible Messengers And Allentown City Council

Allentown councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach proposes that Allentown spend $100thousand to hire a consultant to study the good work of credible messengers.  Credible messengers assign a convicted felon to mentor a young boy so that he doesn't become a future felon, or so goes the scam.  In my day they had Big Brothers. A Big Brother was a successful person who could act like a role model for a young person, how square is that?  

I believe that Allentown would be better off with credible councilpersons, who wouldn't even think about wasting city money on such nonsense.  I personally don't think that credible messengers is good work. But I know that spending money on such, instead of another police officer, is bad governing. 

Candida Affa has announced that she is running for another term on city council. On one hand, I appreciate that she has institutional knowledge of Allentown, but there's another side that would trouble me. She mentions that it's a new administration, and that she wants to be part of the accomplishments....that's the problem. In the Pawlowski regime, she stayed loyal, too loyal, until they took him away in cuffs. City Council is supposed to be a check and balance on the administration, not a rubber stamp. I wrote a few sentences ago that it would trouble me...In another time with a more responsible council. However, in this time, when we're considering credible messengers, Affa is comparatively a conservative... Hopefully she'll be re-elected.

In the photo above, I'm addressing city council in person...That's something I no longer do.

Tip For Schnooks

The sign in the photo comes from the crybaby immigrant who operated the diner at 9th and Linden. He had heard stories that if he came to America, worked hard and saved his money, this was the land of opportunity. The schnook thought when he bought the diner he need only work from early in the morning till late at night to get his share of the pie. Sure, seven day weeks are hard, but the bus stop always provided a new customer or two. Schnook didn't know about Pawlowski's plan to move Allentown forward. All those bus stops would be centralized to the Lanta terminal at 6th and Linden, even the Hamilton Street merchants wouldn't be spared. When Butzy was enticed to build his office building at 9th and Hamilton, it's good to be Butz, the stage was set for the revitalization of Hamilton Street. The riffraff bus people who populated the boatpeople stores would be rafted down to the new Lanta terminal at The Morning Call Square. Last Christmas Lanta even provided a shuttle bus to bring the marginal back to Hamilton Street as a concession to the merchants, but the shopping habits had already changed. Rite Aid is returning, in spite of our poor planning, because of a fluke with their 7th Street building. Back to Butzy, tenants never materialized for his building, and there is less business on Hamilton Street than ever. The Chamber of Commerce, after saying there was no need to be in Allentown and selling their Walnut Street building, "changed" their mind, and opened an office at Butz's. The County moved its Visitor Bureau there, but there's only so many connections available. The prime first floor space has remained empty since construction in 2006, but that's about to change. Although our state income tax will likely rise, there's a grant coming Butz's way for his tax free KOZ building. With a start up grant of over $350.000, an Easton restauranteur will open an upscale blah blah blah this spring. If you eat there, you have already left a tip. 

ADDENDUM: Apparently Pawlowski is willing to pay for everything, even the kitchen sink. In addition to the 350k from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, listed as 9th and Hamilton, there is another grant application from DCED for the prevention and elimination of blight under section 4 of the Housing and Redevelopment Assistance Law on behalf of Alvin H. Butz, this time using the actual street number, 840 Hamilton St. Who would think that a new building would qualify for funds under blight elimination? In a few years, not unlike the Brew Works, it will be impossible to trace the subsidies provided. 

ADDENDUM 2: A little more sugar; R60 Economic Development Liquor License for 840 West Hamilton Street.

above reprinted from August of 2009 

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 13, 2023: Well, fourteen years later I can say it's still good to be Butz, but better to be J.B. Reilly. Even Butz could have never imagined the NIZ back in 2009. He got a little taste with the Butz 2 Building, to the left and rear of Butz 1. Of course most of the pie went to Reilly, who bought up the properties on the Hamilton Street NIZ map, before people realized how lucrative that diverted state tax spigot would be. Browne then threw in the cigarette tax and parcel switch out option, making the NIZ limited only to Reilly's imagination. He now even owns the State Hospital acreage. Although Browne lost the election, he just won directorship of the state Revenue Department from new Governor Shapiro. Who knows what's coming Reilly's way? Making all this so much sweeter for Reilly is that scrutiny of the NIZ, like the KOZ in 2009, is almost exclusively limited to this blog.

Weitzel's Expensive Catalogs

Although Greg Weitzel is leaving in 7 days, before he leaves, he is attempting to bully a compliant City Council into destroying our swimming pool system. Rather than simply build some ramps and railings to comply with new ADA regulations, like pools all over the country, Weitzel's plan is to close 2 pools, and turn the other ones into water parks. Although CedarBeach Pool has served the city for 60 years, he wants to move it up the hill and add water park features. He wants to close Irving Pool, the only one on the east side, and turn the spot into a spray park. He wants to close Fountain Pool, which serves the inter city children, whose mothers don't have vans to drive them to CedarBeach. He spent $80,000 on a consultant from Indianapolis for these recommendations, which could have paid for the handicapped ramps at several of the pools. Let me be blunt. Before coming to Allentown, Weitzel built a destination playground in Lewisburg. He established a relationship with the manufactures of playground and water park equipment. Much of his accomplishments in Allentown were purchased from their catalogs. Allentown should wish him well, and have him take those catalogs with him.

above reprinted from May of 2012
  

old postcard: Fountain Park Pool

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 10, 2023: I spent over a decade defending the traditional park system  and routinely attending city council meetings during the Pawlowski regime. Despite my efforts, we lost both the Fountain Park and Irving Street pools. The city is now hoping for a grant to replace the former Irving Park pool. 

I no longer attend council meetings. Allentown has a new park Director, but I no longer knock on the doors of department heads. However, I will continue pecking away on this typewriter, and continue not hesitating to call out those who despoil our history.

Closing The Monument Building

One morning in early July of 2008, code enforcement descended upon the Monument Building like a swat team. Every officer, in every department in the city entered the building at the same time, and spread out looking for every possible violation. Under the previous owner, the same conditions, with the same tenants, were lauded as a rebirth. Whatever motivated Pawlowski to pull the plug on the new owner, the tenants were lightweights, of no consequence. At that time myself and few other malcontents, like Lou Hershman, would gather very early in the morning for coffee at Jerry's Cafe, located on the first floor. The building had begun its life as the 1st National Bank. After being closed for many years, it reopened as Corporate Center. The new buyer renamed it Monument Building. 

645 Hamilton Street was torn down, to be replaced by J.B. Reilly's Two City Center. Let me tell you the story of the little people, who were disposed of along the way.

The previous April,  Pawlowski wrote "I want to thank Valley Latino TV Show and Magazine for keeping the Latino community informed. Your dedicated effort shows commitment..congratulations... I wish you great success!" Along with the magazine and television studio, a graphic art designer, a festival promoter, and a security company were displaced.  The Morning Call, reporting on the violation report from the City of Allentown, described the building as unsafe. It was the same building, with the same tenants, in the same condition, as before. Unlike the city inspectors, or the paper's reporter, I was there every day for coffee at Jerry's Cafe. Jerry's was not one of the upstart businesses blessed with a grant. He had to pay for everything, and everything had to be inspected, inside out. His plans had to be approved, his electric and plumbing had to be approved, his grill and hood system had to be approved. City inspectors in and out of the building during this process included no less than plumbing, electrical and health. Although violation report issued to the building after the raid listed extension cords, it failed to note that those cords were attached to a movable lighting grid for the Latino Television production studio, and were cords by design. Although the city citation report cited unlicensed businesses, it omitted the fact that the lower level was occupied by Sassi, which performs drug testing for the Lehigh County, and the city's action caused Melendez Reality and Madison Mortgage, among others,  to vacate. 

I don't know if Pawlowski will teach government in prison, but Molovinsky University will teach how Pawlowski abused Allentown.

reprinted from previous years

photocredit:molovinsky

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 9, 2023: Pawlowski had weaponized code enforcement, and that arrogance  remained within the code staff, even into the O'Connell administration.  Since then there has been personnel changes and retirements... I'm not informed about the current integrity status within that department.

A Giant Among Midgets

Here's a story you will not read about on any official City of Allentown website. It's a story of private gumption, instead of the usual public subsidy. It's the late 1990's, and I stop in and visit infamous Allentown landlord Joe Clark. He's sitting at a desk in the middle of a large empty storefront at 7th and Turner, surrounded by landlord supplies and building materials. The phone rings and it's Mayor William Heydt. Heydt just learned that Clark purchased the vacant Eastern Light Building on Hamilton Street, and wants to know Clark's intentions. Clark tells him he's going to build the best nightclub Allentown has ever seen. Heydt doesn't offer any help, but tells him that he'll be under close scrutiny. Clark does go on to build the club, without a nickel of help from Allentown. Years later, when the BrewWorks would open with unlimited city subsidy, a public parking lot on 8th Street was given exclusively to the BrewWorks. A few weeks ago Clark asked if he could rent the Parking Authority lot behind the nightclub; Request Denied. This week, based on ticket sales, Crocodile Rock was rated the 60th most successful nightclub in the world for 2011. The midgets at City Hall pay for consultants, when there's a genius half a block away.

above reprinted from January of 2012

ADDENDUM February 8, 2023:What brings this decade old plus post back today is the news that J.B. Reilly's CityCenter Real Estate will build a band venue within their new projects in the 900 block of Hamilton Street. The Morning Call doesn't mention that Reilly purchased the old Croc Rock building and virtually all of Hamilton Street, except for a few holdouts who wouldn't sell. The Morning Call also doesn't mention that Croc Rock was run by Joe Clark, less, but still infamous. I can't tell you how much the current Call article amused me, but Joe got to laugh all the way to the bank.

Allentown's Father Flanagan

My mother was a tough cookie; but, about once a year, in the late 40's and early 50's, she would get misty eyed as the letter from Boy's Town arrived. It was that picture, the boy carrying his brother, with the caption saying "He's not heavy..." The twenty dollar bill would go into the envelope, and you wouldn't want to get in her way to the mailbox. Well it seems my mother wasn't the only one, Father Flanagan had rooms full of money. Here in Allentown, Gary Millspaugh of the Rescue Mission has his own special flyer... it shows a grisly man waiting for a turkey meal around Thanksgiving. Like the boys in Flanagan's picture who never get older, Millspaugh's guy never gets a shave and stays skinny. I guess what made me a cynic is my associates who actually donated apartment houses to the Mission, and the constables who evict people from them for not paying rent. I can't get my arms around a homeless shelter which makes people homeless. This posting could be the end of me. After all, Bobby Gunther Walsh makes meatballs by hand to raise money for Gary. My girlfriend's parents, in their nineties,look forward to Gary's talk at their church. Gary talks to all the churches in the West End. I gotta go hide now, I hear Bernie O'Hare pounding on my door...

above reprinted from May of 2008

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 7, 2023: You would think that as I aged, I would be less of a bastard...apparently not.  Back channel comments on yesterday's Promise Neighborhood post reminded me of Father Flanagan.  In fairness to Promise, I can't think of too many non-profits that I have any use for.

Raining Money On Promise Neighborhoods

Hasshan Batts won the lottery when he started the local Promise Neighborhoods. The politically correct are always looking for a cause to support, and combating gun violence is the current fashion. Years ago, Alan Jennings was in the right place at the right time, with combating poverty, now it's Batts' turn. After Pawlowski's departure, Cynthia Mota nominated Batts for mayor, without revealing that she worked for him. That was a story that this blog broke, but it was appropriated by the Morning Call, without attribution. Local virtue signalers started flocking around Batts, adding credence to his self promotion.

Just in the last couple weeks alone, he has received $Millions of $dollars... Fed money from Susan Wild, state money from Governor Shapiro and local money from Lehigh Valley Health Network. Corporate America, and LVHN is corporate, love enhancing their profile by making community contributions. The Allentown School District has partnered with Batts to operate a food pantry.

Some of the people who know the local Promise organization best are starting to protest. The commotion at last week's city council meeting touched on that irony. Some of the people arguing at the meeting were Promise workers. These same people are supposed to be conciliators.

Activist Jessica Lee Ortiz was largely responsible for the huge turnout shown in the photo above. While the Morning Call decided not to report on the meeting, LehighValleyNews.Com covered the controversy. 

Mayor Tuerk told the crowd that's he working with an organization of mayors for gun control. That won't help Allentown anytime this century. Likewise, neither will Promise Neighborhoods.  An excellent suggestion was to allow police to moonlight as security in private clubs... that was a common practice many years ago in Allentown. 

photocredit:Jay Bradley/LehighValleyNews.com

Rumble At City Council

From what I understand, Wednesday's council meeting was a real popcorn event. I say understand, because readers of this blog know that I no longer attend meetings. 

These are second hand observations gleaned mostly from WFMZ. The Morning Call never covers courtesy of the floor topics, or other issues not on the agenda. That journalistic restriction is probably proscribed by their editor/publisher, who was previously their long time local news editor.  Apparently the peanut gallery at the meeting, there to complain about violence, got rowdy themselves, and some were ejected from the meeting. 

Tim Ramos would be surprised to learn that he was a Democratic candidate in the last mayoral election cycle. Of course, in fairness to WFMZ, who would think that a surname Ramos in Allentown would be Republican?

Mayor Tuerk made lemonade out of the discontent, by saying that citizen concern is the first step toward solutions.

artwork by Mark Beyer

ADDENDUM: This prohibition against reporting anything not on the official agenda, seemingly directed by Mike Miorelli, goes a long way in explaining the Call's long term failure in corruption reportage.  In a more perfect government, perhaps city council would be a check and balance against a mayor, but that was never the case in Allentown. 

In this blog's history, one former reporter would routinely call me and other concerned citizens...He now covers the White House for a national news agency.

The Devil Of Ocean Paradise

The resort town's boardwalk is partially open during the cold winter months for the hardy of spirit.  The stores that remain open were purchased mostly by middle eastern immigrants, who overpaid for their piece of the American dream in the dying resort.  Their mortgage demands every nickel they can muster,  and their large families are eager to practice their broken English on the few customers willing to brave the boardwalk's cold winter wind.

All their stores sell the same things...  brightly colored candy, souvenirs and small toys designed to make children nag and beg.  Along with the stores there is a strip of game stands, where during the warm summer breezes,  fathers and boyfriends hope to win a stuffed animal.  During the winter, the steel garage doors are closed on all these stands, except for one.  The immigrants with their broken English cannot lure in players, but the Devil can.

Oversized brightly colored stuffed animals adorn the stand. Music from the 70's pulses from one loud speaker,  while the Devil commands the occasional passing man to "show her that you care by winning a bear."  Please don't misunderstand me, he is not Satan himself, but a minor devil.  He can give you a cold, or ruin a first date,  but he has no power over life and death.  Even those he afflicts can purchase redemption.... Inside the stores there are chocolate wafers for sale,  covered with white candy sprinkles.  For a mere $26 a pound, the bad omen can be eaten away.

This minor devil came from Coney Island a decade ago.  Brooklyn's Brighton Beach area started gentrifying in the late 90's, and the dress up spread to adjoining Coney.  Doc, the minor devil, thrived on hearty spirits, but not heady minds.  His move to Ocean Paradise was a win-win.  While the owning immigrant gets to keep almost all the money the stand takes in,  Doc gets to dispense a headache or two each weekend.  He has a room at a nearby old motel owned by the same family, and enjoys the middle eastern food that he has eaten since time immemorial.

If you walk on the boardwalk during the winter, you better dress warm, and not be tempted to show her that you care.

reprinted from November of 2018

Blogging And The Lone Ranger

I fancy myself as the aging Lone Ranger of local blogging, because I'm beyond caring about what or who I offend.  At this point in time, for my name to appear in the Morning Call, I would either have to get arrested or die ... For now, I'm trying to stave off both those options. Likewise, public officials have no use for me. I've been informed that Matt Tuerk loathed me, even before he was a candidate.

I do have one regret about my abrasiveness. Perhaps, if I was more diplomatic, I might have prevailed upon city officials to have more appreciation for the WPA structures throughout the park system.

Several years ago I started a facebook group, Allentown Chronicles. I billed it as mostly for local history, with a side of local non-partisan politics. Most of such local groups concentrated on who made the best chili sauce, cheesesteak or pizza. The history posts on them are cut and pasted from wikipedia, or just pictures scanned from a book. I aspired to see original material and personal memories. While I still keep those guidelines for my own posts, I'm learning to be more lenient with what other people present. 

The takeaway from all these facebook groups is that people want to remember a gentler Allentown from their youth, as opposed to the current harsher reality. 

I spend much more time on the sofa now than on the streets of Allentown. I no longer attend meetings. Nevertheless, with so few venues willing to be candid, I still get tips and requests for help. I still wake up early and eager to sprinkle a little frankness on Allentown.

Paul Muschick Might Become A Columnist

Since Muschick is already the Morning Call's columnist, this post's title alone probably offends him...Offending people is never an issue for me. I do fancy myself a Lone Ranger in blogging. The Morning Call hasn't had a columnist since Paul Carpenter retired.... Bill White squandered his bully pulpit with Christmas Light Tours and chocolate cake contests. He's still judging chocolate cakes.  

The reason I see hope in Muschick is that his recent column takes Ray O'Connell to task for considering running for reelection, after he pledged not to. I don't have an opinion on that topic at this point, but appreciate that Muschick does, and that he expressed it. Muschick's new boldness goes somewhat awry criticizing the voters for reelecting an indicted mayor Pawlowski. A search of the paper's archives shows no one at the paper writing against Pawlowski, including Muschick, at the time. Furthermore, the paper gave the indicted Pawlowski space for column after column during the election. 

For a current columnist at the Morning Call the bar is very low. If I were Muschick, especially with the deteriorating corporate profile for the paper, I would be going all out against the local establishment.

above reprinted from February 4, 2020
 

ADDENDUM JANUARY 31, 2023: For a bastard like me, over the last several years I have been very complimentary toward Paul Muschick.  However, Muschick never has gone after the local establishment hard, and never against the paper, as Paul Carpenter occasionally did. I bumped into Muschick last spring, when he and cohorts were protesting Alden Holdings purchasing Tribune Papers....They're apparently willing to speak out for their salaries.  I was bitching about the Wehr's Dam article, which omitted my mention, even through it was me who advocated for the article, and provided most of the background questions. Muschick gave the stock answer that no one tells them what to write. Of course the real issue is that they know the whats and whos they dare not write about... I'm one of them.

Years ago, when I was out and about more, people would tell me how much they liked Bill White's theme columns. Likewise,  I'm sure Paul Muschick has a current fan base.  When I ran the post in 2020, I got a note from Bernie O'Hare that said, "You save dams and burn bridges." 

Rumble At Secret Lounge

Last night while Mayor Tuerk was attending a solidarity service for the brutal death in Memphis, discontent was fermenting in Allentown.  While police were out of  control in Memphis, some think there's not enough policing in Allentown.

The Puerto Rican inspired protest logo shown above was created by Jessica Lee Ortiz. She's very upset about the fight at an east side club...A video shows people getting hit by thrown tables.

I met Jessica years ago when she was first becoming involved in civic activity. She is now director of the Ortiz Ark Foundation.

As a native Allentonian and local political commentator, I've taken Tuerk to task for what I consider pandering to the Hispanic community, at the expense of older Allentown and public safety.  If a major player in the Hispanic community also finds his performance lacking, he might want to reevaluate the game plan.

The Neuweiler Story

Allentown's NIZ was a boutique legislation that allows private property to be publicly financed.  On the up side, for the most part, the beneficiaries have been local boys. That is about to change. 

The Morning Call had an excellent report on a New Jersey firm muscling in on our tax dollar giveaway. They learned their lesson well from the first interloper, Ruckus Brewery.  Ruckus was set up with the Neuweiler Brewery by Mike Fleck, before he went to the pokey with Pawlowski.  Ruckus managed to raise money from their NIZ approval and get possession of the brewery without actually spending any of their own money. For that fund raising, they changed their name to Brewers Hill.  Previously they never even had experience with actual brewing or real estate...Never underestimate the value of a political connection.

Like Ruckus/Brewers Hill, the new player promises to relocate their office here to Allentown. Sprinkle in a promise of affordable housing, and the Allentown welcome mat is out.  They have agreements now with Brewers Hill, and options on neighborhood properties. 

Personally, I preferred my tax dollars benefiting the local boys, like Reilly and Jaindl.

photocredit: Robert Walker

above reprinted from February of 2021

UPDATE MAY 18, 2022: With the recent news about Neuweilers, I decided to revisit the brewery posts. The post above is just one of dozens I have written on the brewery since 2008. I may have somewhat more knowledge about the topic than the Morning Call's changing cast of reporters, because I had actually sat down with the last private owner. In 2007 Pawlowski said that "We have to get it out of the hands of this guy," It was also the last time that any property taxes were paid on the property. While the city took procession supposedly because no improvements were made, likewise nothing has been done since, fifteen years later. Actually, the property now is in considerably worse condition. But in addition to no taxes being paid in all these years, we have been paying the salaries of the bureaucrats in the various controlling agencies since the property was confiscated.

Whether demolished or restored, or a combination of both, we all want to see change at the property. But understand that we as taxpayers will be paying for that change with our diverted state income taxes. Understand that although the project will be publicly financed, it will be privately owned.

Those interested in an account of the situation from 2007 until now, can use the search engine of this blog's sidebar... simply type in Neuweiler brewery.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 15, 2022: A recent headline in the Morning Call put this money pit back on this blog's front burner. It referred to investment coming to the river. It all these years of NIZ promoting, the Morning Call has never clarified that the investment is our money, our diverted state taxes. Perhaps the new crop of young reporters don't fully understand that. I can appreciate that it's hard to understand how privately owned buildings can be completely publicly paid for....Credit outgoing state senator Pat Browne for that grab of the century. As for Neuweilers, before the recent owners signed over to the current owners, they were given a couple $mil in seed money by the public authority. An enterprising reporter or investigator, might want to track where those dollars went.

Down the road, when some local cheerleader strolls up to the new bar at Neuweilers, and orders the first brewski,  he'll have no idea how many $millions and $millions it really cost the taxpayers.

UPDATE JANUARY 27, 2023: Demolition has begun on the brewery, only the iconic front tower portion will remain.  That portion has been so structurally compromised from neglect, that its preservation is only possible because of our unaccounted for tax dollars. I'm amused how people are so excited about the project, but so oblivious to the true story about it, outlined above. There are a few civic notables relieved that scrutiny, so far, has been limited to this blog.

Allentown Administration Disconnect

As I read about the shooting last weekend on Allentown's east side, I couldn't help but be bewildered by Facebook posts by both Mayor Tuerk and Police Chef Roca. Tuerk was smiling in his gold laced sneakers in Washington D.C., and Roca was celebrating his 21st year on the force. Neither seemed concerned with the ongoing carnage in Allentown.

Nor do the commonplace shootings seem to diminish Tuerk's and Roca's popularity with their constituents.  Allentown has fallen so far that the current public accepts the violence as part of everyday life.  I still haven't recovered from Tuerk's field trip to the Dominican Republic. I'm still suffering from Congresswoman Susan Wild bragging about giving Hasshan Batts $1.5 million for his Promise approach to crime. 

Tuerk certainly is a populist... He's everywhere, and the public appreciates his energy. While I've grown longer in the tooth, and no longer snarl at the bureaucrats in person, I can still peck away on this typewriter...I understand that I won't be invited to any city functions.  In recent years, I was already considered a naysayer.  That description now actually seems too positive for my current perception of Allentown.

History And Politics

In 2012,  then county executive Don Cunningham and his public works director went about demolishing and replacing several historic bridges. When they got ready to demolish the Reading Road Bridge, this blogger went on the offensive to defend the bridge.

The bridge was built in 1824 and totally rehabilitated in 1980. At that time a separate walking bridge was built next to it for pedestrian safety.  Because the bridge was documented to be in excellent condition, I decided that Don would have to smile and cut his next ribbon somewhere else...I succeeded in convincing the commissioners to save the bridge.

A couple years later residents in South Whitehall would organize to save the historic King George Inn.  I would then play a part in saving Wehr's Dam.  None of these structures would exist today if advocates for history were afraid to do battle with elected officials.  Often these battles even have to be refought against persistent bureaucrats, and other vested interests.

Yesterday on facebook a group member complained about me mixing politics with the history. I only wish that they were as separate and protected as they should be.

reprinted from October of 2019

photo/molovinsky/Reading Road Bridge, view from north side

The Boat Landing

Getting to the Boat Landing, for six year old boys who lived above the park in 1953, was quite an adventure. There were three other wonderful WPA structures to navigate on the journey. Unfortunately,  poor foresight by a previous park director has erased some of the WPA's monuments in Lehigh Parkway. As the postcard from the mid-50's above shows, the Boat Landing (my name for the structure) was a source of pride for the city and park system. It is located at the end of the park,  near Regency Apartments. I use the present tense because remnants of this edifice still exist,  buried under dirt and debris. Other attractions lost in that section of the park include the Spring Pond near the Robin Hood parking lot, and the bridge to the "Island", plus the mosaic inlaid benches which were on the island. ( Island halfway between parking lot and boat landing). Neither the Mayor or the Park Director knows that these centerpieces ever existed. These are irreplaceable architectural treasures well worth restoring.

UPDATE: The above post was written in May of 2009. Later that year I organized a small group of volunteers, and we unearthed a portion of the boat landing. The next year I prevailed on the Allentown Water Shed Foreman, Michael Gilbert, to expose the remaining stones around the Spring Pond and remove the growth hiding the Miniature Bridge.

Trexler Smiles, Landing Revealed

I believe that today, for the first time in decades, General Trexler had something to smile about. Most people never understood why three steps were near the lower entrance of Lehigh Parkway; they seemed to lead nowhere. This morning eight people joined a grass root effort to unveil, for the first time in decades, the structure I called the Boat Landing.

Buried under the dirt and grass were several more steps leading to a landing. Chris Casey was the first to arrive and cleared these steps and the first landing himself. A second set of steps led from the landing to the main landing on the creek. These second steps had a foot or so of ground and plants.

The quality and condition of the stonework is excellent, as was all our WPA icons. I will be polite and say only that it was a crime to have let this neglect occur. On the main landing the accumulated earth was two and half feet thick. The crew dug out the curving retaining wall several yards in each direction, and cleared off the top of the wall.

Eight people working four hours managed to reveal about one third of the landing at the bottom of the steps. It was a thrill to realize we were standing at creek's edge as the WPA architects had envisioned. I stood there often as a boy. There still remains a large portion of dirt to remove at the steps base, but you can now experience the Boat Landing.

The retaining wall and the landing continue for fifty feet or so in both directions. Unfortunately a huge tree has grown on the landing to the right, but the left appears reclaimable.

We who worked there today, hope to return and clear off the remainder of the dirt at the bottom of the steps.

Perhaps others will be motivated to clear off the remaining portion of the landing to the left. Now that might even be an idea for the City; imagine restoring an irreplaceable icon instead of buying something from a catalogue. I'm most grateful to all those who helped today, and will reveal their names with their permission.

ADDENDUM:Michael –

I just wanted to thank you for organizing today’s cleanup at the “Boat Landing” in the Lehigh Parkway. It’s not often that one gets to help unearth a treasure while barely leaving home, but that’s exactly what happened today.

It was truly impressive what big difference a small group of people can make. I can’t even estimate the amount of dirt that was moved with nothing more than a few shovels and a lot of hard work.

We can only hope that the City and the Trexler Trust will become aware of this location and start giving all the great structures in the Parkway the care they deserve.

However, the best part of the story for me came after we all left. I got home and my daughter Lucy (age 7) wanted to know how things went. We hopped in the car and soon we were walking up to the stairs leading to the landing. The sun was shining, and the sunlight trickled through the trees and onto the freshly-exposed stairway.

Lucy asked if she could go down to the landing by the water and next thing I knew we were both there at the waters edge, standing on what had been buried only a few hours earlier and marveling at the beauty of the location.

We spent a few moments there - a father and daughter both enjoying something completely “new” to us (even though the landing is over 70 years old). We talked briefly about what was – and more importantly what could be again.

Thank you for making that moment possible, and I hope many others take the opportunity to visit the landing in the near future.

Mike Schware

P.S. – After visiting the landing, Lucy and I walked further upstream and saw the remnants of the bridge to the island (near the water fountain). The remaining supports of the bridge confirmed what you had told me earlier about the island being much smaller years ago.

I organized the excavation shown above in 2009. We did return and remove the remaining dirt at the bottom of the steps.
reprinted from two separate posts combined

The above post is a reprint