Trees, Trailways and Neglect

 

Every several years I visit City Council to make a pitch for a neglected WPA structure. The Double Stairway in Lehigh Parkway was the kingpin of the Parkway's construction. Commissioned by Harry Trexler in 1928, it was constructed in 1935 as part of the park's entrance road.

When part of the wall fell from neglect, I was optimistic that the stairwell landings would be repaired. I have been lobbying for that restoration for the last fifteen years. In that time the landings have begun to sag, and the steps crumble. What would have been an easy flagstone repair is now a rebuild.

Last night the current park director outlined the $millions that would be spent this year on trees and trails. In response to my pesky question, she told me that within a year they will have recommendations from an expert on how to proceed with the steps. In reality, it is not Mt. Vernon nor the Washington Monument. It is a WPA project, like hundreds of others around the country, constructed during the depression. The problem is priorities. As a student and advocate of the park system for many years, I can tell her the repair is two decades overdue.