Figment Of My Imagination

Dear Mayor Pawlowski,
Forgive me for saying this, but I'm very disappointed in the changes made to my town. After my wife passed away, I moved to the senior high-rise at 8th and Union St. I can see the old Mack Transmission Plant from my window, I worked there for 40 years. I understand now it's a indoor go-cart track, I find that a bitter pill. Actually pills are why I'm writing. I used to walk to the Rite-Aid on Hamilton Street. With that closing, I don't think I can walk out 7th St. to the old Sears. Forgive me Mayor, that's before your time in Allentown. The other Rite-Aid used to be Levines Fabrics, they bought it from Sears. The Army Navy store was across the parking lot. Anyway, back to my problem. Now I can't even catch the bus on Hamilton anymore to go visit my daughter in Catty. What have you done to me? My neighbor, a nice widow, tells me you gave that Mexican Restaurant lots of our money and they don't even pay their bills? Never ate there, what were you thinking? Anyway, sorry to bother you, I know you're a busy man, but I don't know where I will get my medicine from, and I'm upset. Sorry.

PhotoCredit: molovinsky

REPRINTED FROM JULY 27, 2008

ADDENDUM: Due to problems with the building on 7th Street, Rite-Aid has relocated back to its old building on Hamilton Street. They had moved to 7th Street because after the bus transfer stops were taken off of Hamilton Street. and moved to the Lanta Treatment Center, their volume decreased 40%. Although that Mexican Restaurant, Manana's closed, we're now going to be subsidizing two new restaurants on the same corner.

Simon Fearless Against Bomber

The 1941 June edition of Ring Magazine featured the Abe Simon vs Joe Louis fight in March. Editor-writer Nat Fleischer was in awe of Simon's courage against the unbeatable Brown Bomber. Fleischer wrote "They (fans) saw Abe Simon give the Bomber the greatest battle he has had since he won the crown..." Although Simon Lost by TKO in the 13th, this image of Simon grinning at Louis while taking the 8 count in round 7, is one of my favorite photographs of that fight.

REPRINTED FROM APRIL 14, 2008

The General Gently Weeps

General Trexler died in an automobile accident in 1933; had he lived a few more years and seen the completed WPA Projects throughout Allentown's Parks, it would have made him very happy. How he would feel about the go-kart track at Cedar Park is another question.

The Administration does not refer to these macadam paths as a go-kart course or an event midway, but rather as paths to facilitate multi-generational activities. Fortunately in the past, the Trexler Trust would have never tolerated the park being destroyed in this fashion, much less be paying for it.

Unfortunately the current Trustee's are minions of the Administration, which wants a recreational theme-park with a little nature in it. Contrast the $hundreds of thousands$ to be spent on this blacktop, with not one dollar allocated for the iconic WPA stonework.*


Currently the walls and structures in Lehigh Parkway are probably the most seen and used WPA structures.

However, without a doubt, the constructions in Fountain Park are both the most monumental and historically important.

The massive stairway rises off of Martin Luther King Drive and climbs up to Union Street.








The construction continues on the other side of Union Street with a colossal retaining wall which is several blocks long.








Contained in this wall is a tunnel leading to another mammoth stairwell which climbs up to Spring Garden Street.



These steps were used over the years by thousands of Mack Truck workers going to the factory on S. 10th Street, and thousands of kids going into the park to play.


*The Park Department is seeking bids to repair the WPA stonework. At this time no money has been budgeted for this purpose, but the go-kart track is fully funded.

Several photographs are courtesy of Andrew Kleiner.

$100 a Week

In 1935, a Jewish boy earning $35 a week carrying 300 pound blocks of ice, was offered three times more to fight; win, lose or draw. For one hundred dollars a week, Jock Whitney, British aristocrat and sportsman, owned Abe Simon. Abe won his first 14 fights, 12 by knockout. On his climb to fight Louis in 1941 he would knock out 27 opponents, including Jersey Joe Walcott.

REPRINTED FROM APRIL 3, 2008

Cedar Fair Midway

Unfortunately this post isn't about the Cedar Fair which owns Dorney Park, it's about the City of Allentown and Cedar Creek Park. Citizens who attended the City Council Park Meeting on Aug. 13th were told that the park plan was a living, breathing work in progress. As shown in the diagram below, that progress has resulted in a new circuit path in the Rose Garden side of the Park, which can serve no use other than a midway loop for special events. The new additional path is below or south of the stream and has two cross paths which bisect the open space even more. I have seen go-kart tracks with more open space. Seeking an explanation for this unnecessary path beyond use as a midway, the Park Director said I would have to ask his landscape consultant. Ironically in 2005, the Trexler Trust hired the prestigious firm of Gannett Fleming to study the Allentown Park System. Their conclusion on page 30 of a 143 page report:

The City’s reputation for hosting major regional events is unparalleled, However, too many of the activities are placed in the same limited locations within the City. This exerts excessive impacts on a few parks and their adjacent neighborhoods.... Lessen the impact of holding several major events at Cedar Creek Park

Cedar Creek Park, as we know it, is essentially being destroyed by Pawlowski and Weitzel. I don't blame them, they have no ties to the area or knowledge of parks. The dereliction of duty by the Trexler Trust is unforgivable. The plan clearly violates the
conclusions reached in the very study they sponsored. Stewardship of the park system is their primary mandate; Shame on them. Shame on Friends of the Allentown Parks. Shame on the Environmental Advisory Council. Shame on the Rose Garden Neighborhood Association. Enjoy your Go-Kart track, I remember when it was a nationally recognized park.

The Monster's Bounty

The Parking Authority, beside the prison, is the only growth industry in Allentown. Donny Cunningham, who is a little Eddie Rendell in training pants, wants some of the monster's loot. The Authority writes over 100,000 tickets a year, mostly to low income center city residents and hapless shoppers trying to patronize Hamilton Street. Although most pay at gestapo headquarters, and the rest get burped in district court, constables chase down the remaining 25%. Constables are mostly paid out of costs put on the defendant's bill. Don Bureaucrat Cunningham inserted a clause in his new budget to hire more County Deputies to collect this $1.7 million dollars, earning about $360k in fee's. In an article in today's Morning Call by Robert Orsenstein, Constable Association President Thomas Impink is quoted about the irony of some governments privatizing functions to save money, while Lehigh County seeks to take over something already privatized. Cunningham will hire five new Deputies, although Constables pay their own insurance and support staff. Although those opposed to this scheme will have to make their feelings known very quickly to County Commissioners, there is an opportunity today to confront The Monster itself.

Craig Friebolin asks all citizens of common sense and fairness to join him today at 4:00 pm as he confronts the Parking Authority at its Board Meeting, 10th and Hamilton Streets.