Separate But Equal Housing For Allentown

When Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski gave his State Of The City speech the other day, he spoke the usual platitudes; He wants the lives of all Allentonians to be better. That sort of stock speech is not worthy of my analysis, but I would like to discuss where he gave the speech. Needless to say the lives of all Allentonians won't be better, considering one objective of the NIZ is to push the underclass out of the new nirvana. What should be a goal is improving the lot of all businesses, beside those few new chosen ones, subsidized by the NIZ. For decades the speech was given at the current Holiday Inn at 9th and Hamilton. With J.B. Reilly's brand new subsidized Renaissance Hotel, the future for the Holiday Inn looks bleak. Pawlowski had an opportunity to tell the owners that they're not forgotten, by once again using their facility to give the speech; Instead, he pontificated at the shiny new Renaissance.

above reprinted from February 2, 2015

UPDATE JULY 10, 2019. Ce-Ce Gerlach has been campaigning for Inclusionary Zoning. Under that proposal, a certain percentage of Reilly's new Strata Loft apartments would have been made available to people of less income for less rent. Although J.B. bulked at making his Lofts' mixed income, he has announced a separate domicile for the less fortunate. The former Holiday Inn at 9th and Hamilton is being converted for those of lesser means. Actually, Reilly's gentrification for millennials never made it west of 8th Street anyway.

Shootings And The Renaissance

One wonders if there can be a true renaissance, when drive-by shootings are occurring three blocks away. Although discussions of this sort are referred to as nay-saying in Allentown, that reality is affecting the marketplace. Lehigh Valley Health Network was supposed to put their orthopedic satellite on Hamilton, at the arena. After realizing that patients wouldn't go there, they chose the Westfield Building, out on Tilghman street. To fulfill their obligation to J.B. Reilly, they instead installed a fitness center. However, to induce employees to go down there and use it, they must now hire security personnel to escort the nurses to their cars. Although Pawlowski and his police chief say that crime is down, the nurses know better, they see too many victims. Reilly is succeeding in inducing a critical mass of office workers into the zone. They will need lunch, and there will be a market for restaurants. The success of any shops remains to be seen. How many new apartments can be supported, and who will occupy them, also remains to be seen.

Rumors are starting to circulate that Pawlowski is making plans to resign. Consequently, there are discussions on who council would appoint to replace him. This blog will wait to address that topic when a change occurs. However, the uncertainty doesn't help Reilly's Marketplace.

artwork courtesy of Mark Beyer

above reprinted from July of 2015

UPDATE JULY 9, 2019: When I wrote the above post four years ago, I never imagined that Pawlowski would get reelected again, and hang around until they were ready to drag him away to prison. I also never imagined that shootings would become a common event in Allentown. The latest one at the Maingate Nightclub unfortunately illustrates how mainstream they have become. There is no renaissance in Allentown, despite all the promotion that Reilly and The Morning Call can fabricate. On the contrary, the new buildings are just a ironic backdrop to a rapid decline in the civility and livability of the city.

View From Fairview Cemetery

This past weekend the Morning Call reported on current efforts to tame Fairview Cemetery, located on Lehigh Street, just west of the 8th Street Bridge. The article was very kind to the current operator, who should have been keeping the cemetery mowed. The article mentioned my efforts there, over a decade ago. At that time, although the cemetery was generally neglected, it was still in better shape than this year, before the current volunteer efforts began. While the reporter mentioned only one funeral in an old family plot, he didn't report on the numerous new burials taking place in questionable places. These places include former designated walking paths between plots,  and spots in old family plots, where new outsider burials should not be taking place at all. Although the operator wasn't mowing this year, he now more income than ever from the new burials.

When I became involved in the cemetery in 2008, Chris Casey was already caring for his inlaws' plots. While he and other volunteers are now mowing more and more of the cemetery, he realizes that his labor is ironically making the operator's funeral business more marketable.

Last month I encouraged Tyler Fatzinger to start a facebook group, where those interested in Fairview can congregate. Tyler, in addition to an enormous amount of hard work at the cemetery, has managed to get the attention of the local media. So far two meetings have occurred, one with the operator himself. Tyler is a young man in this challenge for the long haul.  His informal group has begun exploring the possibility of creating an organization dedicated to the cemetery's upkeep.

Good News For Joe Paterno Fans

If the memory of Allentown, Pennsylvania is any indication, in about 30 years, the name of Joe Paterno might return to Beaver Stadium cleansed by time. Back in the 1940's, Allentown was the powerhouse of high school sports. Its football team compiled a record of 60-3-3. In basketball, between 1945-1947 they won 60 straight games, and both sports were coached by one man, J. Birney Crum. Over 20,000 fans would pack the Friday night football blowouts. Allentown set out to build the biggest, most elaborate high school football stadium in Pennsylvania. However, when the stadium was completed in 1948, Allentown High School was under suspension by the PIAA, for using 21 and 22 year old ringers on its basketball and football teams. Information about this unfortunate misunderstanding is now hard to come by. Birney Crum's image has been completely restored. In 1982, they renamed the stadium after him. From the current school district website: Crum was much more than a demanding, hard-driving coach. He was also a soft, kind-hearted man who took care of the people in his AHS program. Crum recruited boys to go back to high school to finish their education. It doesn't mention that he recruited them back to play football and basketball again, until he got caught. Time is kind to former coaches. Birney even married one of the former cheerleaders, after she graduated. Expect to see Joe Paterno's statue back in 2042.

Forrest Gump card courtesy of Bob Lemke

reprinted from September of 2012

Freight Trolleys and Shenanigans

This was supposed to be a Men's Stuff post, about the working cars on the Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Doing research for the previous post on that company, I became fascinated that they operated a freight operation with the trolley cars. I started acquiring documentation and photographs about the working cars necessary for such an operation. They built power substations throughout the valley that generated electric, then converted the AC to DC for their use. The rolling stock required coal trolleys, wire stringing trolleys, snowplow trolleys, and etc. I will present these black and white photo treasures in future posts, because I got side tracked by a shenanigan; you know me. Lehigh Valley Transit operated out of the Fairview Carbarn, which Lanta still uses off of Lehigh Street. Despite a trolley fleet that covered the entire City, plus the remainder of the Valley (Bethlehem and Easton), all the Men's Stuff working cars, and trolley service to Philadelphia, Lanta now needs Bicentennial BallPark because they acquired five (5) new hybrid buses? Supposedly these five new buses require a special garage. Although the Fairview facility now handles 78 regular buses, the ballfield has to go because of the five new hybrids.

men only: enlarge freight trolley by clicking on image

above reprinted from May of 2010

UPDATE July 4, 2019:  Attempting to save the ballpark, I organized a meeting at a center city church.  Attending the meeting were two city council members and families involved with Bicentennial Park.  Pawlowski and Lanta finally backed off, and the ballpark remains. Some people who attended that meeting became interested in Allentown politics, and attend council meetings to this day. Pawlowski's shenanigans have since caught up with him.

Trolley Demise In Allentown

A local young urbanist speculated that automobiles put the end to trolleys in the Lehigh Valley. He was half right, actually it was the Mad Men from General Motors. In the early 1950's, Americans were still a one car family, even in the prosperous Lehigh Valley. The mass transit system was still full of the other family members, still using the system for work, shopping and school. Between the late 1940's and 1953, Hamilton Street had both trolleys and buses. In the late 40's, General Motors wined and dined transit officials all over the country, exhorting the benefits of their buses. Shown above is a Lehigh Valley Transit work car, towing a trolley to Bethlehem Steel to be scrapped. The photograph was taken in 1952 on St. John Street, heading toward the Fountain Hill route. In June of 1953, the last trolley would run on Hamilton Street.

 reprinted from September of 2011

The Culverts Of Constitution Drive

As an advocate and student of the WPA, I'm often asked about the stone walls on Constitution Drive. None of the walls there invokes as much curiosity as the one I'm shown photographing. Locals refer to this structure as The Spring. Notice that there is a small short wall in front. This stone barrier protects vehicles from driving into the pit, designed to drain water through a pipe under the gravel roadway. Culverts and other practical structures were common WPA projects. Constitution Drive has several WPA culverts, but none of the other retaining walls are as elaborate as the one seen in the photograph above. Although Lehigh County designated funds several years ago to repair this wall, the work was never done. Such neglect is also the case in Allentown. The top wall of the double stairwell descending into Union Terrace is in dire jeopardy. This blog will soon once again document the condition of that structure. While our history and legacy crumble, this community and it's leadership is preoccupied with the arena and Philadelphia cheesesteaks.

UPDATE: Since I published the above in November of 2014, I successfully advocated to have the top wall of the Union Terrace Stairway repointed. However, the landings on that structure and the landings on the Lehigh Parkway Staircase, desperately need work.

photograph by K Mary Hess, 2014  

The Aineyville Viaduct

The other day I referred to myself as a local historian. I earned that self appointed degree by a long standing interest in local history.  Another interest, photography, enabled me to record some things that are no longer here to see. My degree is not unique. As I mentioned several times before, the local rail buffs are the real local historians. Their knowledge of our former industrial base is unsurpassed. Shown above is the Aineyville Viaduct (Bridge), which allowed  Lehigh Valley Transit's Liberty Bell trolley to cross over Trout Creek,  on the way to Philadelphia. Shown in the background is the Good Shepherd Home.  The bridge was in line with St. John Street.   Aineyville refers to the area south of Trout Creek, now referred to as South Allentown,  in the area of S. 4th  and Basin Streets.  The photo dates from 1948, photographer unknown.  The viaduct was dismantled in 1953.

reprinted from August of 2013