Wildlands Conservancy Sell's Out

In today's Morning Call*, Abigail Pattishall, praises the park plans at Cedar Park; apparently she didn't drive by Cedar Beach last evening. Pattishall's praise was earned by the Park Department agreeing to plant riparian buffers along the creek west of Ott Street. Riparian buffers are shrubs left to grow along the creek banks. They reduce the amount of fertilizers and pesticides which can enter a stream; never mind that the park land is not farmed, nor are chemicals applied. The zones also help reduce flooding. The Conservancy, in exchange for this gesture, has ignored the consequences of all the remaining plans. The new plans increase the amount of impervious surface in the flood plain dramatically. How much surface will be covered by the new Destination Playground and it's required parking? How much surface will be covered by the new pavilions, walkways and lighted paths?

Had Ms. Pattishall drove by Cedar Beach last evening she would have seen hundreds and hundreds of cars parked on all the grassland between the creek and Hamilton Street. (Basketball Tournament). The compaction of the soil that occurred last evening will negate any benefit against flooding provided by a riparian buffer. I can accept the riparian buffer zone project. I cannot accept groups, which should know better, condoning intrusions on the park system, just because their pet project is accommodated.

* http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-pullqt.6953702jul09,0,6487124.story

Do You Remember

Do you remember when the circus used to come to the Fairgrounds?

Do you remember when elders could still drive around Trexler Park or past Muhlenberg Lake, and through Lehigh Parkway from one end to the other?

Do you remember when brides were grateful to be photographed in the Rose Garden, even without a special pavilion or concrete walkways?

Do you remember when the Park System accommodated some recreation, as opposed to the Recreation Department tolerating some park.

Do you remember when we were the All American City, even without having a new master plan for the Park System?

photocredit: molovinsky

July 2nd Op-Ed Piece, The Morning Call

In what should be a time for fiscal caution, Allentown and its Parks Department is embarking on an ambitious plan to create new maintenance intensive attractions in Cedar Creek Park.
Before I elaborate on the details, let me make a confession. I believe the Allentown parks system was perfected years ago, and we need only be good stewards of that perfection. I believe our primary benefactor, Gen. Harry Trexler, envisioned the parks to be a passive retreat for the enjoyment of nature.

Although Allentown has administratively combined Parks and Recreation into one department, we must cherish our open spaces. What we really need is more supervised playgrounds and basketball courts in center city.

The new project includes additional pavilions at both the Rose Garden and the picnic grove below Cedar Crest College, complete with lighted walking paths. The primary attraction is what is being billed as a ''Destination Playground.'' This playground would be the biggest in this part of the U.S. and also be completely handicapped accessible.
To facilitate this accessibility on the sloping land above the Cedar Beach pool, the land would have to be excavated flat. The plans call for accommodating more than 500 children, including special restroom and changing facilities.

Although the concept of Allentown having a playground designed for children with disabilities is most commendable, the problem lies with the scale of the project. An existing playground should be retrofitted for the purpose of serving our own children who have special needs. The maintenance expectations and liability issues of a mega destination would seem to be expenses and risks that Allentown should not assume at this time.

I attended the council meeting when this proposal was approved. It was an emotional meeting, complete with parents of special needs children conveying their hardships with existing conventional playgrounds. The enthusiasm and good intentions of the Parks Department also was contagious.
There were a few opportunities for public input, but for the most part, residents have only recently learned of these plans through a recent article in The Morning Call.

Many people share my perception that we are fixing things that are not broken; worse yet, we are creating things that will require a great deal of maintenance and expense at a time when we can least afford it.

Allentown and its parks system have a special bond. Perhaps these ambitious plans should have been put to public referendum; at the least they deserve much more public deliberation. In his will, Gen. Trexler gave the parks and money to maintain them to ''the citizens of that city (Allentown).'' The mayor and council should delay this plan until those citizens have a chance to be heard.
Michael Molovinsky

I HAVE REPRODUCED THIS OP-ED PIECE TO ADD IT TO THE RECORD OF MY PREVIOUS WRITINGS ON THIS SUBJECT, AND AS A FRAME OF REFERENCE FOR FUTURE POSTS ON THIS TOPIC. I HAVE RECEIVED A LARGE VOLUME OF OFFLINE FEEDBACK CONCURRING WITH MY SENTIMENTS.

19th Street Loses Gem

Although much attention has been focused on the Theater District between Liberty and Tilghman Streets, 19th Street just lost an architectural gem. The mediterranean stucco masterpiece, on the corner of Greenleaf Street, dated back to the late 20's and sported a side yard, which ultimately sealed it's fate. Although there are several mediterraneans on 19th, this one had character galore. Among it's features were a tower above the front door, scalloped parapets, and an ornate chimney. A villa type wall connected the house to the garage. The house had been vacant and in ill repair for a number of years. The combination of much needed work and the side yard made the property more valuable as a small office parcel than a residence. Allentown has been lucky in retaining it's iconic buildings. Although a number of buildings were lost on downtown Hamilton Street, it has retained most of the mansions west of 12th Street.

TIMBER!

In an incredible act of fiscal desperation, the Pawlowski Administration is preparing to justify harvesting timber on the South Mountain Reservoir. It is being filtered through the Park Department as woodland management, blah, blah, blah, but make no mistake, they're selling the tree's because they need money. Currently the timber is being surveyed. I must have missed the public announcement for the meeting on that plan. Our heritage, our parks, are being threatened by the perfect storm. The Parks and Recreation departments have been administratively combined. The director's background and training is in recreation. The administration has created no less than two cover groups; The Environmental Advisory Council and Friends of the Parks. Both groups have unwittingly failed in their own mission, as stewards of the parks. In the first phrase of the Cedar Park Plan, the structural integrity of the Mirror Ponds has been compromised by under digging the stone walls. A contractor now will apply gunite in an attempt to stabilize the walls. The Administration and Parks Department is using surveys and studies to justify the pre-determined master plan; for example a survey taken on the east side of Cedar Parkway of young people at the basketball courts may be used to justify extending recreational venues into the traditionally passive Rose Garden side of the park. Press conferences will be held, awards will be won, resumes will be enhanced, but what kind of park system will our grandchildren inherit?

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Not that long ago, faith based volunteers from our All American City*, would congregate to bus south and help in impoverished towns. This past week, 250 volunteers came here to Allentown from North Carolina, how low and how quickly have we sunk. In 1953 Hamilton Street teemed with shoppers and the hit song was "Doggie In The Window". Now our Community Development is reduced to displaying art in empty storefront windows and abandoned pit bulls roam the city terrorizing residents. Our City is being governed by bureaucrats who are non-natives of the area, using resume building formula's which discard our history and traditions, even the iconic Park System is being revised. If this community was indeed progressing by any realistic criterion, I would relegate my regrets to the memory file and wish them well.

All American City: A designation given to those cities with a high quality of life.

photo from The Morning Call

Sign Of The Times

The new sign at Cedar Beach is about where the entrance will be for the new "Destination Playground". I think the park plan and the sign have much in common; they're both high tech and flimsy. Although printed on a fiberboard, the frame is reinforced to withstand a storm. Looking at it, I though of the Carly Simon song, You're So Vain; I suppose it was ordered before my bitching, but it does say fast sign on back. It was pricey, complete with photo images. It says the plans were made with extensive public input. (sorry, the sign is so new and shiny my camera flash bounced off those words) Considering they wanted "extensive public input" before the design, they should not mind some scrutiny now.
The sign is about 6 by 10 ft.
click on image to enlarge

A Week Too Long

These disposable table cloths were left on the Cedar Beach picnic tables on June 13. By tuesday the 16th, I began to wonder how long they would stay there? Although the trash can nearby was emptied on regular basis throughout the week, the cloths remained as a flag on relevant questions about the new park plan. How can the City really create maintenance intensive new park features when they apparently cannot handle the existing work load? Yesterday, eight days later, a park volunteer finally removed these eyesores.

Addendum: I have corrected the dates