Late, and Maybe Wrong

Today, The Morning Call caught up with molovinsky on allentown about the hockey arena offers. In addition to being late, they may be wrong. They quote Ed Pawlowski as saying "We're not hiding anything." He says that the AEDC is openly trying to buy the properties. I interviewed two of the property owners mentioned in the article this past weekend. Both indicated that the buyer was not revealed, and that Summit Reality was acting as an agent for an undisclosed buyer. I did not review the offers to purchase myself. Also today, The Morning Call caught up with my Joyce Marin scoop. Although molovinsky on allentown is not credited in either story, the Marin story refers to a local internet blog.

Involuntary Conversion

In real estate, an involuntary conversion is when your property is taken by no plan of your own. The merchants of Hamilton Street are facing an involuntary conversion.

molovinsky on allentown has learned that the city is buying up the square block between 7th and 8th, Hamilton and Linden Streets, for the hockey arena. The subsidized Farr building, a Pawlowski pet project, will be spared. Although offers they can't refuse are based on the fair market value of the real estate, their livelihood and right of free choice are being violated. These businesses are not only their income, but security for their family's future. Many years ago, the city zoning made me close a photo studio in the area of Raub School. I was told that if I wanted to be insured the right to operate, I should have located in the business district. There once was a covenant between Allentown and merchants. If the merchants invested their time and money, the city would provide a district which secured their investment. Several years ago the merchants were upset that the bus transfer stops were removed; Little did they realize that they would be next. If the Pawlowski Arena for Sports and Culture doesn't work out, we will have lost the business district for naught.
UPDATE: Apparently, some of these offers were made as an option to buy, with an undisclosed buyer. A local prominent realtor, is acting as a straw buyer , for either a speculator or the city. Threats of eventual eminent domain. with a lower price, have supposedly been made to encourage signatures.

Caution, unconfirmed rumor

This blog has received a tip that our favorite school superintendent, has hired our favorite past community director, Joyce Marin. I have not been able to confirm this information, hopefully a whoops, my mistake will be needed.
UPDATE:
I have confirmed that indeed Marin was hired as a grant specialist. I've been told that the hiring was at Pawlowski's request. This will not be music to the ears of many laid off teachers and aides. I know of no accomplishments by Marin as community development director.

UPDATE: Marin is the Administrative Center Community Before/After School Activities Project Manager effective 4/4/11. The stated salary is $84,000 / Yr. This is a new position.
UPDATE: Email exchange
dr. zahorchak, it has come to my attention that you hired joyce marin as a grant writer. would you please explain why nobody in house could not perform this function and how an additional administrative position can be justified with so many teacher layoffs pending. sincerely michael molovinsky

Mr. Molovinsky, I read your question regarding Joyce Marian. There appears to be confusion probably due to the fact that the position is grant funded. The position is funded out of the Safe Schools Healthy Students grant. The position promotes and only focuses on before and after school activities as many of our therapeutic support services are covered outside of classroom hours – mentoring, arts enrichment, life skills support, and family activities. Her position will help dozens of agencies and friends of the district align their work and use our buildings as they support our children. Gerald Zahorchak

CastleRock

CastleRock took place in the cavernous Dorney Park dance-hall, Castle Garden. The "Garden" was built in the early 20's and hosted all the famous big bands of that era. By the late fifties it was called CastleRock. The Philadelphia recording stars, such as Frankie Avalon and Freddy Cannon would routinely perform. By my teenage era, in the early mid 60's, it was mostly disc jockeys. The Park was free, no admission. Pay to park, and maybe a buck or so for the dance-hall.







By then the nightclub tables shown in the photograph were gone, and sitting was around the sides. There were no shootings, and rowdiness was restricted to sneaking on a ride without buying a ticket. The dance-hall overlooked the lake, it was destroyed by a fire on Thanksgiving in 1985.

reprinted from January,26,2010

Flash From Past

Occasionally, some of the older boys in Lehigh Parkway would get saddled with taking me along to a Saturday matinee in downtown Allentown. We would get the trolley, in later years a bus, from in front of the basement church on Jefferson Street. It would take that congregation many years to afford completing the church building there today. The trolley or bus would go across the 8th Street Bridge, which was built to accommodate the trolleys operated by Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Downtown then sported no less than five movie theaters at any one time. Particularly matinee friendly was the Midway, in the 600 Block of Hamilton. Three cartoons and episode or two of Flash Gordon entertained our entourage, which ranged in age from five to eleven years old. We younger kids, although delighted by the likes of Bugs Bunny, were confused how the Clay People would emerge from the walls in the caves on Mars to capture Captain Gordon, but our chaperones couldn't wait till the next week to learn Flash's fate. Next on the itinerary was usually a banana split at Woolworth's. Hamilton Street had three 5 and 10's, with a million things for boys to marvel at. The price of the sundae was a game of chance, with the customer picking a balloon. Inside the balloon was your price, anywhere from a penny to the full price of fifty cents. The store had a full selection of Allentown souvenirs. Pictures of West Park on a plate, the Center Square Monument on a glass, pennants to hang on your wall, and picture postcards of all the attractions. Hamilton Street was mobbed, and even the side streets were crowded with busy stores. Taking younger kids along was a responsibility for the older brothers, the streets and stores were crowded, but predators were limited to the Clay People on the silver screen.

reprinted from March 24, 2010

Trail Network Approved

Denise Sanchez/The Morning Call/April 4, 2010

Shown above, Luciana Martucci, with her Barbie fishing pole, teaches her daddy how to fish in an Allentown park. Luciana is concerned that the Trail Network Plan will encourage many additional bicyclists, going much faster, which will make watching her daddy more difficult; He tends to wander when they walk on the paths. She doesn't understand why the paths are going to be dug up and paved to accommodate one particular set of users, at the expense of all others.

The parks are a nationally recognized heritage of all Allentonians, from one generation to the next. No one Administration, or set of Trustee's, is entitled to impose irreversible changes in its design or use.

This post is reprinted from one year ago. Despite assurances given by City Council at that time, to a packed chamber of citizens, that all future park plans would receive proper public notice and input, last evening funds were appropriated to begin construction of a bike trail connecting Cedar Park to Union Terrace and Lehigh Parkway.