Christmas Lights And Park Neglect

As people enter Lehigh Parkway to enjoy the annual Christmas Light Display, they drive past the top of the Double Stairwell, built by the WPA in 1935. It was designed as the signature structure in the park. While the top landing is degraded, the subsequent landings down the double stairs get much worse. One landing is in danger of collapsing, undermining the steps below it. I have been reporting the worsening conditions to the Park Department for three years. While nothing has been done to rehab this irreplaceable structure,  the department laid cement pads for the disc golf course this past summer. They are now planning to build a skate park, but still no repairs are planned on the WPA icons of the Parkway and elsewhere.

The Trexler Trust is a significant contributor to the park budget.  Furthermore,  the park budget is approved every year by City Council.  Both these groups fail to use their influence in regard to the park department's misplaced priorities.  Never the less,  I will continue through this blog to advocate for the WPA structures, and other traditional elements of our park system.

Allentown Archeology

When it comes to the history of industrial Allentown, the railroad buffs are among the current experts. Our heavy manufacturing base moved it's materials on the tracks of several railroads. The Front Street area was crisscrossed with tracks and sidings. The West End Branch ran along Sumner Avenue, crossed Tilghman Street, looped around 17th Street and ended near 12th and Liberty. The Barber Quarry Branch ran along the Little Lehigh until it then followed Cedar Creek. It crossed Hamilton Street near the current Hamilton Family Restaurant and ended at what is now the Park Department Building. The rail buffs are current day archeologists, looking for remnants of those glory days. Shown above is a portion of the Barber Quarry pier and track. This is at the bottom of Lehigh Street hill, near the former bank call center, near the former Acorn Hotel, in a former city still called Allentown.
photo courtesy of Mike Huber, Coplay
related posts
The Train of Lehigh
Parkway
The World of Mirth
Lehigh Valley Railroad Piers
Depot at Overlook Park

reprinted from April 2013

ADDENDUM: This remnant of the previous railroad bridge is part of the Wire Mill Bridge over the Little Lehigh, which will soon be closed for repairs.

Susan Wild Cutting Ties With Pawlowski

Susan Wild announced yesterday that she is resigning as Allentown City Solicitor to devote full time to her run for the 15th Congressional District. “I do not believe the demands of running a congressional campaign allow me to spend the time that is necessary to be an effective city solicitor,” Wild wrote. “I strongly feel that it is unfair to the taxpayers of Allentown for me to collect a salary and benefits for a job to which I will not be able to devote my full attention.” 

While Ms. Wild doesn't believe that she can effectively run for congress and perform as solicitor at the same time, apparently Ed Pawlowski thinks that he can be a full time mayor and a federal defendant at the same time. At any rate,  he will be pulling down his mayoral salary as he sits in court day after day.

The other day Michael Adams,  the former occupant of the Log and Stone House shown above, mentioned Ms. Wild in regard to his eviction from the house.  Many people have been upset about his departure,  especially since Pawlowski had the gardens ripped out that Mr. Adams had cultivated for a decade.  Ms. Wild came on Adams' Facebook page and commented that she had nothing to do with his ouster by the city.  I can believe that she wanted to be disassociated from that action,  and furthermore, I also believe that she wants to be disassociated from Pawlowski.

Lehigh Parkway Vendetta,  the original October post on Adams' eviction

Junkyard Train

Today, once again we ride a freight train of Allentown's great industrial past. In the early 1970's, the Redevelopment Authority tore down the neighborhood on either side of the Lehigh Street hill. At that time they had persuaded Conrail to move the the Barber's Quarry Branch line exclusively to the southern side of the Little Lehigh. The branch had crossed over and back to service the great Wire Mill. After crossing Lehigh Street, the train would proceed along the creek passing under the 8th Street Bridge. At the 10th Street crossing it would service another great industrial giant, Traylor Engineering.
In 2009 President Obama visited a successor, Allentown Manufacturing, which has since closed. The line would continue along the creek until it turned north along Cedar Creek to Union Terrace. After crossing Hamilton Street by the current Hamilton Family Diner, it would end at the current park department building. Nothing remains of the line, the tracks were removed. The Allentown Economic Development Corporation recently received a grant to rebuild the line to 10th Street, even though the plant Obama visited has closed. The neighboring former Mack Plant now houses a go cart track. How the money will be squandered remains to be seen. The top photograph was taken by local train historian Mark Rabenold in 1989. It shows the later relocated section of the track that was just east of the Lehigh Street crossing.

UPDATE: The County Commissioners recently denied a request by AEDC to grant KOZ status to the closed Metal Manufacturing building. Although the company never cited lack of rail service or property taxes as the reason for closing, the rail grant is still on the table. $Millions of $Dollars would be needed to lay bed and track from 3th and Union to S. 10th Street, to service an empty building; Truly, The Track To Nothing.

reprinted from March of 2016

A Former Factory And Neighborhood Of Allentown, Pa.

The Wire Mill was a sprawling industrial plant along 13 acres of the Little Lehigh Creek, just east of Lehigh Street, near the current Martin Luther King Drive.  An 1899 map of Allentown contains the footprint of various industries of the time, and the Wire Mill was the most prominent.  The Lehigh Valley RailRoad constructed two bridges over the Little Lehigh, to bring its Barber Quarry spur line into and out of the plant. Began in 1886, it produced wire and nails until 1943, and then sat abandoned for another twenty years. During WW1, it employed up to 1,200 men around the clock, producing barbed wire for the trench warfare in Europe. The factory sat on the south side of the former Wire Street, which housed narrow row houses on the other side of the street, and the neighborhood above it.



That entire neighborhood was demolished in the early 1970's, as Allentown embraced the modern urban renewal models of the time. The old, modest neighborhood of small row houses, between Lawrence and Union Streets, and on both sides of Lehigh Street, between 4th and 8th Street, were bulldozed away.  It was, in a large part, home to Allentown's black community. How ironic that we destroyed the cohesion of a neighborhood, but renamed Lawrence Street after Martin Luther King. The only remnant of that community and neighborhood still there is the St. James A.M.E. and Zion Church. A former vibrant neighborhood was replaced by a sterile bank call center, sitting alone on a large vacant hill. That building is now the new Building 21 city operated charter school. I would have complained about that urban renewal plan if I was blogging back then. Now, 50 years later, I still consider that plan a failure. Hopefully, future bloggers will have something better to say about Allentown's current revitalization.

The Wire Mill was at the bottom of the Lehigh Street hill, shown above

reprinted from March 2016 

ADDENDUM NOVEMBER 21, 2017: Mayor Pawlowski recently announced that the Lehigh Street bridge(Wire Mill Bridge) over the Little Lehigh Creek will be closed for repairs. Over the years I have written numerous posts about this historic section of Allentown. In subsequent years I combined some of these posts and reprinted them. In the next several days, current events permitting, this blog will revisit that section of our city.

Barbarians Sack Allentown

As Mayor Pawlowski stood last week across Hamilton Street from the former buildings, now reduced to rubble, I thought of the barbarians sacking Rome. The Knerr Building, constructed in 1892 at 707 Hamilton Street, had withstood many changes in the last 120 years. Built for John Knerr to sell groceries and confections, it's four floors served various businesses over the century. Although this past New Year's eve, the Mayor spoke of Allentown's 250th anniversary, it's a history for which he has limited knowledge and less appreciation. As a student of Allentown's architecture and past, I was offended to hear him and the other mayors boast about the 40 temporary demolition jobs. The wrecking contractor was astute enough to remove the monumental and historic Knerr facade ornamentation, before knocking the building down. He will sell it in some other city, where history is respected and valued.

photo of mayors/The Morning Call/Donna Fisher

photo of facade from former Knerr Building/ molovinsky

reprinted from February of 2012

ADDENDUM: The above post is reprinted from 2012. Although I accept the arena and NIZ as the new reality, there are uninformed progressives who believe  the demolition of that square block of Allentown was of no consequence. I know better; We lost some significant architecture and much history. One must wonder if the new structures will last 120 years.

A Former Proud Block In Allentown

When the north side of the 700 block of Hamilton Street was demolished in early 2012, this lone blogger was there early in the mornings and weekends to document the end of an era. Although Hess's ruled Hamilton Street in the 60's and 70's, the 700 block had the classic mercantile history and facades.

The new arena monstrosity looks pretty much like the renderings did, except those middle class people pictured in the illustration never materialized. I'm referring to the west end housewives with their baby strollers and disposable income. The apologists say wait, it takes time. It's only half done, wait until they build the mega towers on the south side of the street. The suburban housewives will still have no interest or motivation to come downtown.

 Reilly will build the towers. As long as Pennsylvania taxes are being used for his debt service, why wouldn't he?   Never mind that the state is so broke that they may have to put slot machines in elementary school cafeterias to harvest junior's lunch money.

Treasures Lost On Hamilton Street

                                                   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.
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

ADDENDUM:   This past weekend, a member of Old Allentown Preservation Association, and an active local Democrat, bragged on facebook about how he had recycled an old second floor office door from the demolished buildings in the arena zone. In truth, Old Allentown also turned a self serving, callous eye to the destruction noted in the above post. Although I'm glad the door was recycled, allow this post to note the irony and hypocrisy of the Association.

reprinted from January of 2015


UPDATE NOVEMBER 16, 2017: Although there's always some group bestowing some award on any new development, the Allentown NIZ is certainly no architectural destination.  Although I've taken hundreds of photographs in Allentown, including the ones shown here,  I have yet to buy film for any new building in the NIZ.