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.
The stairs were designed by a landscape architect, however they were built by W P A labormen who dismantled an old railroad trestle with hammers and wedges annd re-used the stones to create the stairway, Master stone craftsmen were few and far between during the depression,
ReplyDeleteBrent@6:04: Trexler commissioned Meehan Associates of Philadelphia (leading landscape architect in USA at time) to design the park, which Trexler had cobbled together from several farms that he purchased. But the depression hit in 29, and even Trexler thought he better hold off. When the WPA started, Allentown was Plan Ready, from Trexler and Meehan.
ReplyDeleteThe workmanship was fine, 100 years takes a toll on any outside structure. I suspect that the county is possibly setting itself up for a lawsuit when someone falls on those steps, especially with all the documented notice by the author of this post.
ReplyDeleteRay - It’s a city park, not the county’s. Not that Allentown seems to care about lawsuits from their neglect.
DeleteMeanwhile, about a mile or so upstream the covered bridge remains closed as it is “renovated”. It’s been stripped down to its supports for almost a year, and there seems to be little work going on.
That’s particularly ironic since a group of Amish tradesmen probably could have built a new bridge over a weekend.
I’m guessing that the contractor is getting paid by the week, and an examination of the contract for the work and campaign finance reports could be revealing.
What were the priorities for the last two years?
ReplyDelete