Kids Of The Parkway

There were hundreds of us, we were the baby boomers. The neighborhood was built for returning GI's, and the streets were named after the planes of WW2; Liberator, Catalina, and Coronado. The twin homes were wedged between Jefferson Street and the southern ridge above Lehigh Parkway. Now called Little Lehigh Manor, we knew it simply as Lehigh Parkway, and we had our own school.

Historical Fact:
The original part of the school building contained four classrooms, a teacher's room, and a health room. It replaced the Catalina Avenue School which existed in a home near the present site. Lehigh Parkway received national publicity because it was being build as a result of the new neighborhood. Thus, the "Neighborhood School Concept" was born.








Because of the school and the park, the neighborhood was really self contained. The Lehigh SuperMarket on Lehigh Street was within walking distance. Soon, FoodFair would build their first large Supermarket, also on Lehigh Street, which was even closer. Today it has developed into The Parkway Shopping Center. We kids enjoyed our own Halloween Parade and Easter Egg hunt.






Because there were so many of us, Parkway Elementary only went through 2nd. grade. We would take the bus to Jefferson Elementary for grades 3 through 6.

Historical Fact:
Jefferson Elementary used to be a high school, and for years, it had separate girls' and boys' entrances. These entrances were turned into windows at some point, but the exterior of the building still has the two entrances marked.

These were some of my friends from 3th grade. They all lived in the Parkway. Not only were they all boys, only yesterday, 56 years later, I learned the name of the girl I'm holding hands with in the May Day picture above.

Historical Facts from Allentown School District Website

ADDENDUM: other Parkway Neighborhood Posts,
Time Capsule
Allentown On My Mind

reprinted from January 2010

Allentown Post Office 1934

In the 1930's, the "New Deal" was good to Allentown. As I noted on earlier posts, our park system was enriched by monumental stone construction under the WPA. We also received one of the architectural gems of our area, the magnificent art deco post office. Constructed during 1933-34, no detail was spared in making the lobby an ageless classic. The floor is adorned with handmade Mercer tiles from Doylestown. Muralist Gifford Reynolds Beal worked thru 1939 portraying the Valley's cultural and industrial history. This incredible 74 year old photograph is the contractor's documentation of the project's progress. The back of the photo states; Taken Sept 1 - 34 showing lobby, floor, screens, desks, completed & fixtures hung

UPDATE: I have reinstalled the photograph with a version that will enlarge when clicked.

Reprinted from Jan.15, 2010 

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 28, 2022: While the NIZ-fueled new construction on Hamilton Street surges ahead, our architectural history continues to be destroyed. There is no more pathetic example of this than the magificant Art Deco post office languishing for sale. The irreplaceable front entrance lanterns on the eastern end of the building have vanished. 

The new NIZ construction continues, because our state tax dollars are used to finance the private owner's mortgage (almost all the new buildings are owned by one man). However, the language and greed of the NIZ concentrates on new construction, not on the older buildings. That iconic post office masterpiece remaining in limbo this long is a stain on Allentown. Any pretense of museums, art, and culture are exposed as hollow jokes, as long as that For Sale sign on the post office remains, and its treasures disappear.

Damn That Molovinsky and His Dams

I failed to save the small WPA dam shown above in Robin Hood. The Robin Hood Bridge and dam were the last WPA projects built in Allentown.  I did, however, learn a lesson, which I used to save Wehr's Dam. 

Last year, the Morning Call did a whitewash story on Wehr's Dam, and even managed to omit my name, though I urged them for six years to write the story.  I never imagined that they would take each culprit's version at face value. 

We almost lost Wehr's Dam in 2014. Abigail Pattishall, from Wildlands Conservancy, told the South Whitehall Commissioners that "Keeping this dam is not an option, It's a hunk of concrete."  The lesson I learned from Robin Hood is that once the Wildlands Conservancy is given a green light, they demolish the dams immediately, so that there's no change of mind or going back. On June 18th, 2014, I prevailed upon South Whitehall to take the issue under advisement. Luckily, publicity from that meeting got the attention of other people, including descendants of the former mill owner Wehr, who had built the dam.

Despite the conspiracy against the dam, it still stands. The culprits even organized a referendum, never expecting it to win, because they tied it to a tax increase. I'm happy to report that every one of them involved with this conspiracy is no longer elected or employed in South Whitehall government. Because of family issues, the Wehrs dropped out of the prolonged battle to save the dam, but I continued at meetings, and here on this blog. 

The Robin Hood Dam did not have such a happy ending. The small ornamental dam was built over boulders which are still in place,  still providing some drama and sound. However, the city allowed the Wildlands Conservancy to deposit the demolished dam debris around the stone bridge piers, spoiling their aesthetics.  

Although I remain a persona non grata with the Morning Call and Allentown government, I will continue to campaign for the removal of the former dam debris around the stone bridge piers.

Photo of Robin Hood Bridge and dam before being despoiled. 

Photo courtesy of the Earl Price Collection

Mayor's Junket To The Island

Over the weekend, a facebook member posted that he was eating at one of our new restaurants, and that dirt bikes keep driving by (probably doing wheelies) and he wondered what the mayor was doing about it?

Actually, the mayor is in the Dominican Republic to understand the place that shapes the culture of thousands of our Allentown residents. The mayor bragged that despite that relationship to the island, he was paying for his own trip himself. That's nice, but how about the other fifteen or twenty people with you?  Who is paying for them? Among them is council president Cynthia Mota and Promise Neighborhood crime entrepreneur Hasshan Batts. Also on the trip is Genesis Ortega, city communication manager. In my forty years of scrutinizing city government, I cannot recall such a junket.

Mayor Tuerk, to even think that the taxpayers should be paying for your trip is mind-boggling. Frankly, the Dominicans, and anyone else here, should be learning more about our culture, we do have one you know.  But, more important than these cultural fine points, let's get back to the dirt bike issue.  Let's get back to quality of life issues here in Allentown. 

On Friday, before I learned of this island visit, I messaged the mayor and city council, asking them to consider more budgeting for the WPA structures.  Maybe I'd be more successful with that request, if I'd keep my mouth shut about this trip and other realities here in Allentown....  But that's not my way.

Enjoy your vacation, delegation or whatever you call it, but remember, you were elected mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

ADDENDUM 1:00PM: I have been informed that everybody on the trip is paying their own way.  The larger issue remains...what are they going to learn there, that justifies their absence from problems here in Allentown? 

ADDENDUM 1:30PM: The Tuerk administration states that Genesis Ortega (Communications Manager) is not on the trip.

I'm Still Pitching For The WPA

In 2012, over a decade ago, I took our current park director, Karen El-Chaar, on a tour of the Allentown WPA structures. At that time, she was director of Friends of the Allentown Parks.  El-Chaar, a native daughter of the area, seemed to share my interest in seeing these irreplaceable icons preserved. She subsequently secured a grant from the Trexler Trust to repair the stairs by Fountain Park. 

In following years she organized volunteers to clear the overgrown spring pond by Robin Hood. In conjunction with the Friends group, I conducted a couple of tours of the WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway.

When El-Chaar was appointed Park Director by Ray O'Connell, I thought that finally, after so many years, I would have an ally about the WPA in the administration.

As it turns out El-Chaar does care about the WPA, but she hasn't made it a line item priority in the budget. The lower entrance wall of Lehigh Parkway is being repointed, but that is a continuation of the upper wall's replacement, after it collapsed from years of neglect, before El-Chaar's time.

I'm still lobbying to have the landings repaired on the Parkway Double Stairwell. Three years ago, she told me that the Trexler Trust wanted an expert opinion on how the flagstone should be relaid.  She is still waiting for the Trexler Trust to consult an expert, and only then might they issue a grant for that project. I would have preferred that it was already done, within the regular park budget.  Recreation items, such as the skate park, are directly in the city park budget. 

Above is a 1948 photograph of the bridge that went to the WPA man-made island in Lehigh Parkway.  In the 1980's the bridge was removed, and the island allowed to grow wild. When I gave El-Chaar that tour so many years ago, she commented that it would be nice to replace the bridge and restore the island. I replied that I would be satisfied if the remaining WPA structures are maintained....I'm still hoping and waiting for that to happen.

Since I started advocating for the WPA, El-Chaar has been more receptive than the previous directors. However, like the island, once a park feature is gone, we will never get it back. My mission remains to make sure the WPA structures get the timely attention our park history deserves.

photo courtesy of the Price family

City Of Allentown Hires Molovinsky

No, rest assured that they didn't hire me. On the contrary, because of this blog, they would like to drag me in front of an eager district magistrate, and throw the book at me. 

However, they did hire my father's Uncle Harry in about 1935.  At that time, same time that they were building the magnificent WPA structures which the city is now allowing to go to seed, Earl Price was the City Forester, and in charge of maintaining the parks. 

By 1900,  my great grandparents and all their offspring were living in the Ward.  I'm now the last Molovinsky left in Allentown, so this blog cannot embarrass any family members.  It can, however, if I do my job correctly, cause some distress among those who are failing to properly honor the city's history.

Harry Molovinsky is in the back row, fifth from the right, in the light colored jacket.

use of photo courtesy of the Price family

City and Magistrate Court Snicker At Citizens

About a decade ago, I advocated for better conditions at Fairview Cemetery. At the time I was not yet a complete persona non grata at the Morning Call, and they did a story on my efforts. 

About 5 years ago, a much younger man, Tyler Fatzinger, took over the  effort to make the cemetery management more responsive to families of those interred there. Fatzinger campaigned to get the city involved through the weed codes imposed on other property owners. However, it appears to me that the city is not sincere in their effort.

At a recent magistrate hearing, which was postponed way too many times, the cemetery lawyer claimed that the cemetery is a pollinator meadow, and worse, the judge took that nonsense under advisement.  Even worse, the city didn't protest the ruse.

I can assure the district justice that those families who paid for perpetual care weren't told that the cemetery was a pollinator meadow.  I can assure the code officer that those now paying for perpetual care are not told that there will be no mowing because the cemetery is a pollination meadow.

I witnessed another district magistrate bend the law for the city at a citizen's expense. 

It's time for Lehigh County Court to end this abuse of citizens.  The district courts cannot be run with a wink and nod to the city, abusing those that they're supposed to serve.

ADDENDUM 2:47 PM: Fairview Cemetery was found guilty of violating Allentown's Weed Ordinance. However, beyond court costs of $92, no fine was levied. That's a lot cheaper than mowing 55 acres.

Tuerk's Good Deeds Go Punished

If there is one person who cannot rightfully be accused of discrimination, it would have to be Matt Tuerk, but that didn't stop an inane accusation from Dan Bosket, when Tuerk was called on the  carpet* by the local NAACP group.

In reality, Tuerk's main fault, in my opinion, is a preoccupation with diversity and inclusion.  Bosket complained that the two senior level Blacks in the administration left.  One of them, Leonard Lightner, had been elevated to the highest new appointed position in city hall by Tuerk, Chief Operating Officer.  He left for an even higher paying job elsewhere.

Recently, I did a post mentioning Joel Fitzgerald, a former police chief in Allentown. Fitzgerald has been traveling the country,  taking advantage of municipalities preoccupied with hiring minorities. His latest salary is almost half a $mil, as head of the Denver Transit Police.

Bosket's complaints certainly didn't fall on deaf ears with Tuerk. Tuerk wants to push employment opportunities to diverse candidates. Councilperson Ce-Ce Gerlach wants to give minority owned businesses preference in awarding contracts.

Bosket, Tuerk and Gerlach aside, a preoccupation with complexion, rather than competency, can in itself be a problem.

*The Morning Call/September17/Lindsay Weber