The Movies of N. 8th Street

Two movie theaters were on the unit block of N. 8th Street, separated by one building. The Earle was demolished in 1961 to create another Park & Shop lot. The other theater, the Cinema, ceased operation in 1953, becoming a warehouse for the Farr shoe chain. The theater was built in 1917 as The Strand, but changed ownership and name in 1930. The lobby portion of the former Strand/Cinema still stands today, now being used as a tax service business. In the late 1970's, I operated a photographic darkroom business in part of the space.

A Box of Chocolate in 1953

As a boy being dragged along on a shopping trip, I was sometimes rewarded with a box of chocolate from Loft's. After waiting for my mother as she looked through endless racks of clothing at Hess's, we would take the escalator to the fifth floor and have the parking ticket validated. Before walking back to the modern parking deck at 10th street, we would detour to 8th, and buy the candy.

The Promise of Daryl Hendricks

The mayor and city council were sworn in last night. According to The Morning Call, Pawlowski patted himself on the back with vigor, then told a white lie. He said that he will work with members of his administration to weave respect and accomplishment. Pawlowski is known as an autocrat, he may work with people, but not people below him. But this post isn't about Pawlowski, or Lehigh Parkway's Robin Hood Bridge pictured above, it's about the promise of Daryl Hendricks. Hendricks just retired as a captain from the police department, and is the only new face on council. Last night he said,"I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious of a matter to be left to the politicians,...I will do my best to fulfill those duties you have afforded me and bestowed upon me." City Council had an opportunity to exert themselves this past fall and prevent a parkway gem from being despoiled, as shown above. Except for Jeanette Eichenwald, exerting themselves has never been a forte of this council. Hendricks has a needed institutional memory and knowledge of Allentown. Regardless his political ambitions, he could fulfill them as an independent voice on council.

Pawlowski's Facebook Responses

Having a problem with Allentown city government, you might want to try Facebook instead of City Hall. Early this morning,  Mayor Ed Pawlowski used Facebook to assure Joanne Bauer that he would have the new police chief investigate her complaints. Joanne had her car stolen, and that was only the beginning of her ordeal. She wasn't happy with the way the Allentown Police responded, or didn't, along each stage of the crime. Bernie O'Hare will report on Joanne's full story tomorrow.  The mayor regularly answers questions on his Facebook page, but also reaches out to concerns posted on other pages.

UPDATE: Bernie O'Hare has an excellent post on Joanne's ordeal, and concludes that the Allentown Police Department fails it's citizens, partially because of low man power.  I had similar experiences with the police department 20+ years ago, when manpower wasn't an issue.  In truth, gathering evidence from a stolen car would be a low priority task in the best of times.  While it's a trauma for Joanne, Pawlowski managed to gain some public relations miles from the incident, via Facebook.

Allentown Weather Forecast

Expect chairs in the street and angry neighbors. Smaller streets and alleys will see no service. Center city shoppers should expect no cleared parking spaces, but parking tickets continuing throughout the day.

Auburn Street train tower, 1964

High Culture - Free Admission

Getting Mail by K Mary Hess       Photos of Lehigh Valley                                                      

The $4 million Dollar Question

The Morning Call reported today, in an excellent article by Emily Opilo, that Allentown spent $4 million in legal fees, consultants and public relations to shepherd through it's controversial water lease. An issue not addressed by the article was the failed referendum by the citizen group. The referendum didn't fail with the voters, it failed to get on the ballot, despite containing about 4,000 signatures. It was determined by election officials that the referendum wording put the initiative into the realm of the city charter, and required a different time frame than that used by the petitioners. With the administration spending $4 million on opinion benders, imagine the pressure that might have been applied to those empowered to reject placing the referendum on the ballot.