Allentown's Planning Puppies

The Morning Call article says that City Planning Commission had some concerns that the waterfront portion of the NIZ might have a negative impact on traffic, but the plans were passed, and the project will proceed on to the next hurdle. That hurdle is if City Council will agree to sell the developers (Mark Jaindl) a piece of land needed as an entrance road. What suspense! What hurdles! What should concern the planning puppies is the old LVRR line still in place, after all these years. This is a true historic treasure of Allentown, and should be retained, perhaps for a future tour train. Shown above was the private engine of Structural Steel, which is the primary location of the proposed new development. At one time the former industrial giant called Allentown, had several fabricators that required their own engines to push material around their plants.

photo from the Mark Rabenold Collection

Stealing Allentown's Treasures

                                                   click photograph to enlarge

The merchants who built Hamilton Street counted on architecture to attract shoppers into their emporiums. Large neon signs wouldn't appear for another fifty years. The soffit and fascia shown above, halfway between 7th and 8th on Hamilton, is one of the most elaborate facades in Allentown. One thing you can say about Allentown City Hall, they never let culture, art, or history get into the way of their plans. As successful cities come to value and profit from their history more and more, Allentown keeps using the standard catalog of proven failures. I know from other projects on Hamilton Street that Pawlowski isn't big on history. The Cityline Building in the 800 Block was permitted to stucco over beautiful brickwork. Sad that the puppies, who are directors at the Art Museum and Historical Society, remain silent on the planned destruction. It's hard to describe the magnificence of the skylight shown below, also in the targeted block. It's very large in three sections, in pristine condition. Should be quite a snack for Pawlowski's bulldozer.
UPDATE: The bulldozer prevailed, and the former architectural treasures of our mercantile history were not preserved, save for this blog's archives. Above is reprinted from May 2011

Allentown's Last Movie Theaters

Architecturally, the 19th Street Theater has no rival. The tile elephant trunks coming down the edges of the facade have delighted viewers since 1928. Up to last year, there was one other Venetian type building in Allentown, in the 700 block of Hamilton, but it was  knocked down to accommodate the arena monstrosity. The 19th Street theater has survived because of it's current affiliation with the Civic Theatre, a non-profit cultural group. Shown above is the Franklin, in the 400 block of Tilghman Street, which survived until 2008. That theater,  built a century ago in 1913,  was also called the Jennette for about forty years.

The Picture Shows of Allentown

There was a time in our center cities when movie theaters dominated the cultural scene.  A few of these old theaters still exist, such as the Boyd in Bethlehem. Allentown had no less than six movie houses, either on or directly off Hamilton Street. Several smaller theaters were scattered in different neighborhoods, such as the Allen and Towne. On Hamilton Street itself, the Colonial and Rialto dominated. Both large ornate theaters, with balconies.



The elaborate promotion shown above for the movie Grand Hotel dates back to 1932. I have been unable to identify which theater or city is shown. The photograph was taken by a professional photographer named Harris, who worked out of the Farr Building in Easton.

reprinted from December of 2009, then titled Before Netflick.
Some comments from that time:LVCI said... Boyd (9th), Earle (8th), Jeanette (Tilghman), Eric (Hamilton), Capri (Hamilton) and of course the big granddaddy The Blvd. Drive-in. The Rialto before a movie theatre was home to live vaudeville acts. The stage one time extended straight out to 10th street before being made into a store front. The Rialto was the 1st theatre to get air conditioning. Before it's 1st fire there was an eating/seating area overlooking the marble lobby entranceway. DECEMBER 27, 2009 AT 1:04 PM
Anonymous said... TO: 1.04 pm The Eric Theater was a relatively new and modern theater built in the mid- to early 1960s. It had nothing in common with the others you mentioned, either historically, or architecturally. It really was not on Hamilton Street. Unlike the great old Allentown movie houses, the Eric was built into a quasi 'strip mall' after all the older structures were demolished and bulldozed. If anything, the theater itself was closer to being located on 4th street, closer to Linden. There were several movie theaters that you missed that were on Hamilton, or reasonably close. I know that there was a smaller theater (torn down in the 1950's or 1940's) on the south side of Hamilton very close to the Merchant's Bank building at 7th and Hamilton. I heard the name mentioned from an 'old-timer', but for the moment it escapes me. Don't forget the Strand, located on north 8th Street, very near to the Farr Building. Anon.
DECEMBER 27, 2009 AT 1:52 PM michael molovinsky said... anon, i believe the missing theater you're thinking of was the midway, where i spent many afternoons watching the matinee's. maybe two serials, such as flash gordon, then 5 cartoons. btw, my photo store, allentown photographic, was in the strand lobby. that part of the building still stands; the actual theater section was used as the farr shoe chain warehouse for many years. the earle was on the parking lot next to it. across the street was the original Look Steak Sandwich shop. DECEMBER 27, 2009 AT 4:48 PM
Anonymous said... Allentown movie theater update, cont'd. From the Allentown 1935-35 City Directory:
Embassy Theater - 28 N. Ninth St.
Park Theater - 823 St. John (today's Zandy's)
State Theater - 35 N. Sixth St.
Transit Theater - 535 Hamilton
Victor Theater - 716 Hamilton
Little Theater - 1333-35 Chew St.

The Last Customer In Allentown

The 700 block of Hamilton Street was the core of Allentown shopping for over 150 years. Even during the heyday of Hess's, it was located between Allentown's department stores. In the last twenty years of center city shopping, it became the primary block. Even in it's last few years, when the demographic changes resulted in a much poorer clientele, an enormous amount of merchandise was still being sold. The Family Dollar store was one of that's chain's most successful locations. As the politicians and newspaper promote the Transformation, foot traffic and resulting walk in business virtually no longer exists. When the new offices and their workers are up and running, what will really happen business wise? Although there will be more mouths to feed during the lunch hour, that will be the extent of the Transformation's spinoff. The former stores and commerce of Hamilton Street will now be occupied by an enormous white elephant, dormant most of the time. Any upscale ventures will learn that the new office workers have no time or interest, beyond feeding their face, during lunch hour. The hotel will transition to apartments, as the folly of that idea becomes quickly apparent. The remainder of Allentown will continue to be ignored, as more and more resources are directed toward the Transformation, to disguise it's failure. A handful of developers will profit enormously, because of the unprecedented use of state tax funds by the NIZ. The remaining taxpayers of Allentown will supplement the folly with increasing property taxes, and punishing water and sewage rates. They will discover the true cost of their local political apathy.

Happy Dependence Day*

Yesterday I went to the Social Security Office, across from the prison, to discuss my retirement options. I was given number 199. In addition to retirement, Social Security also dispenses money for disability. I would say from the gray hair, there were
about three of us contemplating retirement, all the others were for disability. A few middle age men were carrying their fake canes. The canes aren't fake, it's the disabilities. I saw one such gentleman walk in from the parking lot, clearly the cane bore no weight, and was merely a prop. Most of the people waiting were quite young, in their twenties. Disability has been expanded to include mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, additive personality and anger management. I will say many of them did look angry to me. It was hard finding a parking space. Business also looked good at the prison. If Johnny Manana's had gotten these crowds....

*this post is reprinted from 2008 and 2011, when it was titled as Growth Industry In Allentown.  The new title is stolen from Julian Stolz