Jessica Lenard's Fashion Statement

Fashion Statement is a limited edition 8X10 inch etching by Jessica Lenard (1950-2016).  She had commissioned a large scale giclee print of the piece. That giclee is being presented by Alderfer Auctions on April 6th to introduce Lenard to their audience.  The print measures 42X56inches.

On April 14, the auction house will make available All Day Sucker,  an iconic painting featured over the years in several of her shows.

Those interested in learning more about Lenard and her work will find her website revealing.

above photo of All Day Sucker

Lou Barletta For Governor

It is generally not my wont to make political endorsements. However, this year I'm compelled to make an exception. As an independent, I never have a party horse in the race. Because my endorsee is a Republican, and the Republican primary is so competitive, I need to speak up sooner than later.

Come this November, the Republican primary winner will face Josh Shapiro for governor. With such a very crowded Republican field, you need only 20 something percent of the vote to win. However, can that victor beat Shapiro? Shapiro has imposed no real solutions with the law and order chaos in his home-field of Philadelphia... to me that is completely unacceptable.

Of all the Republican candidates, I feel that Lou Barletta would be the strongest against Shapiro in November. With Pennsylvania having been on the wrong track for far too long, I endorse Lou Barletta for governor.

Quality Of Life In Allentown

When I saw the headline about quality of life in Allentown, I was encouraged.  Perhaps Mayor Tuerk was going to crack down on the dirt bikes terrorizing city streets?  I had written about this problem almost three years ago.  As I got deeper into the article and they started quoting Promise Neighborhoods, my enthusiasm waned.  Of course Promise Neighborhood worries about what inequalities in our community  causes the junior gangsters to act out?  I can only hope that Tuerk values Promise's opinions less than the Morning Call does.

The bikes are a difficult problem. The article points out that chasing them by police would create a situation too hazardous to justify.  As an advocate for our traditional park system, a suggestion of turning over a city park to the bikers, to blow off steam, would be a nightmare.

It is constructive that the city is recognizing the problem as a priority. I would think that fast confiscation of the bikes, and a slow, complicated return of them, would greatly lessen the problem.

Union Terrace Gets Shaft

Timber lined shaft dug to water main in Union Terrace

Allentown City Council recently approved two park items funded by the Trexler Trust; Improvements to both the Franklin Playground and the Fish Hatchery. Both involved payments to vendors repeatedly used by the departed park director. Meanwhile, the iconic WPA structures continue to crumble throughout the park system. Although this blog, through the recently formed Allentown WPA Association, informed the Park Department of the conditions at Union Terrace, nothing has been done or scheduled. This summer, Shakespeare will be performed on the Terrace Stage. Last year, I documented the WPA condition there in a post entitled Tragedy Play At Theater.

Shown above is a project by the city water department. A cast-iron water main runs under the Terrace, feeding the West End from the water plant on Martin Luther King Drive. A private company will reline the existing 30" main, dating back to 1905, with a new plastic liner. The Terrace was built over the main in 1937, and was the last WPA project completed in Allentown. 

above reprinted from June of 2012 

UPDATE MARCH 24, 2022:In a couple months it will be a decade since I wrote the post above, and the WPA is still getting the shaft in Allentown. I still remain its main advocate, and still annoy those in city hall who make decisions affecting the structures. It still remains my hope that this year I can give a tour of Lehigh Parkway with Mayor Tuerk and Park Director Karen El-Chaar, and show new landings on the Stairwell and bridge piers freed of rubble.

Stairway To Shame

In the mid 1930's, Allentown, and especially its park system, was endowed with magnificent stone edifices, courtesy of the WPA; Works Progress Administration. This was a New Deal program designed to provide employment during the aftermath of the depression. Stone masons from all over the country converged on this city and built structures which are irreplaceable. The walls and step structures in Lehigh Parkway, as the Union Terrace amphitheater, are legacies which must be protected. Pictured above is the grand stairway from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive) up to Junction Street, built in 1936. The steps are in a state of disrepair. They lead to the great Junction/Union Street Retaining Wall, thirty feet high and two blocks long, which was completed in 1937. I call upon the Trexler Trust and Allentonians of memory, to insist these steps are re-pointed and preserved. The current Administration knows little of our past.  It's important to save the things in Allentown that matter.

The City of Allentown is embarking upon a $3.8 million dollar capital plan to change the nature of our parks, funded in large part by the Trexler Trust. Although a number of fads will be accommodated, not one dollar is earmarked to preserve the existing WPA treasures. General Trexler envisioned the parks as a reserve for the passive enjoyment of nature. Among the new Disney-World type plans are a wedding pavilion in the Rose Garden, and the largest playground in eastern Pennsylvania to be built in Cedar Park. The trail through Cedar Creek Park will have lights installed, and the picnic areas will be expanded. Anybody driving past Cedar Beach on a Monday morning sees the trash generated currently by only a few picnic tables. How many more park workers will be required to deal with the consequences of these new plans? The playground is being billed as a "Destination Playground", who will pay to keep that clean? Allentown should build and monitor numerous playgrounds throughout center city, within walking distance for children and parents. The Trexler Trust and The City of Allentown have a responsibility to first repair and maintain these iconic stone edifices which are unique to Allentown.

photo info: the dedication stone is on the Union Street wall. The steps shown in the photo here go through a tunnel in the wall and climb up to Spring Garden Street. They are in total disrepair. This posting is a combination of two previous posts, which appeared on this blog last September.

above reprinted from May of 2009

UPDATE APRIL 10, 2018: My campaign to save the WPA structures has been on going  for over a decade. About 10 years ago, I organized meetings at the library to bring attention to the neglect inflicted upon these structures. In the process I tutored Karen El-Chaar, from Friends Of The Parks, on the issues. She then was able to obtain a grant from the Trexler Trust,  and repoint the Fountain Park Steps. I opposed the more outlandish proposals cited above for Rose Garden area, and plans were scaled back.  I organized efforts to dig out and reveal the WPA Spring Pond and Boat Landing, both of which were discarded decades earlier. Because of the neglect, the Lehigh Parkway wall collapsed, but has since been partially rebuilt, to allow use of the entrance road into the park. In cooperation with Friends Of The Parks,  I conducted tours of Lehigh Parkway, featuring its history and WPA structures. During the Pawlowski regime I offered my advice to City Council on the traditional park system and WPA, but it was rejected.  I again make the same offer to Mayor O'Connell and the new administration.

UPDATE MARCH 3, 2020: Although O'Connell did invite me to a meeting about the parks, I am once again a persona non grata.  Karen El-Chaar is now director of parks.  It is my understanding that the Trexler Trust has commissioned a study of the Parkway Structures,  but declined to share any information with me.  It is my informed opinion that the immediate services of a stone mason are much more needed than that of their consultants. Time is the enemy of these structures.

above reprinted from March 3, 2020 

UPDATE MARCH 23, 2022: Recently, I have been asked by several people if I will be conducing  another tour of the WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway? My current mission is to prevail upon the city to repair the landings on the Parkway's double stairway, and to remove the rubble around the Robin Hood Bridge piers. If the city does these most worthwhile projects, it would be my honor to lead another tour.

History Of Union Terrace

The area now known as Joseph S Daddona Lake and Terrace has a rich history. The stone arch bridge dates back to 1828.  If Lehigh County had its way, the bridge would be gone now. I'm proud to have played a large part in saving it.  The park consists of the former city ice skating pond, and the WPA amphitheater.

This blog previously featured the train of Union Terrace, which was near the end of the former Barber Quarry Branch line... Talking of tracks, shown above is the freight station of the Allentown and Reading Traction Company.  Their trolley would go under the Dorney Park roller coaster on its way to Kutztown.  Many of you would know the freight building many years later, as the store and home of Joe and Ann Daddona.

reprinted from April of 2013