Mack Bulldog Features Boat Landing

The Mack Truck magazine, Bulldog, often featured scenes from Allentown's nationally recognized park system. Shown on this cover, from the early 1940s, is the Boat Landing. Buried over by a park director in the 1970's, it remained buried, until dug out by this blogger and friends in 2009.

The Boat Landing

Getting to the Boat Landing, for six year old boys who lived above the park in 1953, was quite an adventure. There were three other wonderful WPA structures to navigate on the journey. Unfortunately,  poor foresight by a previous park director has erased some of the WPA's monuments in Lehigh Parkway. As the postcard from the mid-50's above shows, the Boat Landing (my name for the structure) was a source of pride for the city and park system. It is located at the end of the park,  near Regency Apartments. I use the present tense because remnants of this edifice still exist,  buried under dirt and debris. Other attractions lost in that section of the park include the Spring Pond near the Robin Hood parking lot, and the bridge to the "Island", plus the mosaic inlaid benches which were on the island. ( Island halfway between parking lot and boat landing). Neither the Mayor or the Park Director knows that these centerpieces ever existed. These are irreplaceable architectural treasures well worth restoring.

reprinted from May, 2009, combining two posts  seeking help to  uncover this treasure after 50 years.

Saving The Spring Pond

As a small boy growing up in the twin homes above Lehigh Parkway, I would go down the steep wooded ravine and cross the Robin Hood Bridge. The stone lined spring pond and miniature bridge was just the first in a series of wonderful WPA constructions to explore. Last year, when I organized the reclamation of the Boat Landing, my memory turned to the pond. Although overgrown with several inches of sod, I knew the treasure was still savable.





In the spring of 2010 I met Mike Gilbert of the Park Department, and pitched the idea of a partial restoration. On May 26th, I posted A Modest Proposal, which outlined my hopes for the pond. By July, Gilbert had the Park Department clear off the remaining stones, and clean up around the miniature bridge.


Park Director Greg Weitzel  indicated to me that the pond features uncovered will be maintained. Any further clearing would be at the discretion of Mike Gilbert. In our conversation he also stated that there are virtually no funds available for the preservation of the WPA icons.







I will attempt to organize a group and contributions for this most worthy cause. Between the Spring Pond and The Boat Landing there was once a bridge to the island. Wouldn't it be nice if a small boy could go exploring.
reprinted from previous posts
UPDATE:Mike Gilbert has retired, and the Park Department has a new director. Although grass and sod are starting to again cover the remaining stones that surround the pond, the miniature bridge is still visible. I will make it my mission to again pitch the new personnel.

Our History Disregarded

One of General Trexler's first land donations to the City of Allentown was some acreage along the Little Lehigh. He wanted to make sure that the quality of the water supply for the city was protected. The above photograph shows one of first things built in Lehigh Parkway. Please note that the retaining walls on the park entrance road have not yet been built. On the previous post Anon 8:49 PM asks;
Has the City showed you the complete inventory and locations of all the WPA sites?
Not to sound too presumptuous, but I believe the current Administration is learning about the WPA sites from this blog, starting with "Stairway To Shame,"  compiled from two posts written in Sept. 2008. The photo shows the spring pond and ornamental bridge. Although water still comes from the spring pipe, residents today would have a hard time locating this image, although it's in a very prominent place.







The spring pond has been allowed to become overgrown, but the stones lining the pond are for the most part still there, buried under a few inches of dirt and tall grass.

Likewise the bridge is intact, but obscured by high grass. Now, I'm not a fan of the grow zones, high mowing and riparian buffer zones. Giving the advocates of those programs the benefit of the doubt, there can be no justification, whatsoever, for letting our historic treasures be overgrown and buried. The spring pond and bridge is right next to the parking lot in Robin Hood, the City now calls it Hole Number One of the Disc Golf Course. Hopefully the City will have enough consideration for General Trexler to weedwack the bridge, so that a father and his children can have a moment like the one shown at the top of this post.
reprinted from October 2009

UPDATE: I've had some success with the park department in regard to the Spring Pond site. That story will be the next post.

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

Robin Hood Dam Reprieve

When I approached City Council in May about the Robin Hood Dam, I questioned the Wildland Conservancy's rationale for demolishing the dam. Water quality and fish migration seemed moot points. The overflowing sewer line, along side of the creek, is the gorilla in that argument. With the fish hatchery, and hundreds of fisherman who line the creek banks, it seems as if the good General Trexler anticipated any problems in that department. I raised the issue that removing the dam may threatened the Robin Hood Bridge, as the water flow would increase both it's depth and velocity. Rich Young, Public Works Director, conceded that the Wildland's had submitted no engineering studies with their plan to demolish the dam. City Council agreed with my concerns, and I was told that they would conduct a meeting, to which I would be invited, before any work commenced. Last week, we learned that the Conservancy had gone ahead and removed the dam in Jordan Park. Last night, Francis Dougherty, City Manager, revealed that the Wildland's wanted to start with Robin Hood's demolition. Also last night, Councilwoman Cynthia Mota agreed to conduct the previously promised meeting in September. Although my previous questions are still relevant, I'm becoming more militant about this issue. The dam should remain if for no other reason than the beauty of it's sight and sound. Who the hell is Wildland's Conservancy to destroy an icon of Lehigh Parkway. The truth be told,  they are using our park system as a venue to harvest grants, and administrative fees that come with them. A quick visit to Lehigh Parkway will bring tears to your eyes. The creek is no longer visible anywhere, hidden by a wall of weeds and invasive species, the result of another grant by the Wildland's Conservancy. I have requested that City Council visit the park, to see and hear the dam before any vote.

Allentown Park Crimes

The riparian buffer zones have become in reality invasive species zones. In some park areas, fast growing vines envelop the iconic willow trees. Some new trees, planted to replace those destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, have been overwhelmed by these vines. The Buffer Zone was instituted several years ago because The Wildland's Conservancy got a grant, and the former Allentown park director wanted another bullet point on his résumé. The riparian buffer zones should be limited to only the areas which the park department can thoroughly maintain. The Wildland's Conservancy, with another grant in hand, now wants to remove two dams along the Little Lehigh Creek. They claim the removal will improve water quality and allow the fish to migrate upstream. This blog has taken a position against removing the WPA era dam at Robin Hood. The sewage line which overflows in heavy rain makes the water quality argument a moot point. The Fish Hatchery makes the fish migration also moot. City Councilman Peter Schweyer told concerned citizens in May that a meeting would be held before any dam removal permission was granted. Rich Young, Director of Public Works, testified that no engineering reports were submitted by the Conservancy, or approved. Schweyer made the same commitment to Allentown Friends Of The Parks. Although no meeting has been held, the Wildland's has started their dam removal project with Jordan Park. The mayor of Allentown is preoccupied with the arena project, and it's benefit to his quest for higher state office. The citizens of Allentown must depend upon the good offices of City Council to safeguard their interests.