OUT LOUD !!!!

"OUT LOUD"



BY CYNTHIA RODRIGUEZ



"EMINENT DOMAIN MY ASS"





















Just because something is in the constitution, doesn't make it constitutional. It's difficult for me to stay calm just writing this. Not too long ago, I was almost a victim of "eminent domain". I was devastated with just the thought of it. I've been there almost ten years. It's a little underground landmark in it's own right. I was dangerously close to the doomed area, but I just made the cut. I think the only thing that probably saved my ass was the fact that I am on the same block as the big Verizon building. And I know they're not gonna get rid of that. That'd be like tearing down PP&L to build that. Well, maybe not EXACTLY the same, but you know what I mean. I guess for once Corporate America came in handy. Only time will tell. It can still happen. It can happen to anybody. I didn't even know about this until pretty recently when I read about it in the Morning Call. Until then, I didn't even know what that term meant. Frankly, I'm surprised this kind of injustice still exists.

I am totally appalled, disgusted, and just perplexed by our city's government right now. I cannot even begin to understand how they would think that building this hockey stadium/arena would actually be good for downtown Allentown.

First of all, where are we? Canada! Nobody gives a shit about hockey around here. Since when do they think there is some HUGE hockey following in this area. I've lived in this town for over twenty years, and the only time I hear anyone talking big about hockey, (which is rare) is when they are talking about the Philadelphia Flyers. Personally, I like the N.Y Rangers, but whatever. It's hard enough to keep people interested in other local sports venues. Look what happened to the "Allentown Ambassadors" baseball team? Again, personally, I enjoyed going to the games, but they disappeared. Now, we have the Iron Pigs, who are still young, so I don't think they need any competition right now.

Second, I remember when not too long ago they were attempting to encourage people to come downtown to open up businesses, and live here, etc. What was all that about? Was that all for nothing? Yeah, thrive in downtown Allentown, even if it's just for a little while because then we're gonna take your business away from you, and tear it down. Sure, we'll compensate you. It won't be anywhere near as much as what it's probably worth, and it'll be tough to find something new, but hey, good luck with that. No matter how you slice it, that's just plain robbery. Bullying. Legal theft. Abuse of power. And if it were like, for a hospital or something, that's one thing. But for some wanna-be Madison Square Garden?

Another thing, with all the abandoned buildings in, and near center city Allentown and the dilapidated spaces around them, you would think they could put THOSE places to good use. Either use that money to renovate or to tear THEM down to make space for a stadium, but noooo, leave those to stand and rot, and tear down perfectly good buildings, homes, and businesses. Yeah, that makes sense. NOT. If we really played it smart we could do what South Bethlehem did. Look how they've resuscitated that part of town back to life. Including turning an old warehouse into one of Lehigh Valley's biggest art centers (Banana Factory). Why can't WE do things like that?

And finally, I read in the paper this project is supposed to cost I don't know how many millions of dollars so why aren't they taking that money and fixing up those pesky gas pipes that pose such a threat to us. Didn't part of Allentown blow up not too long ago because of this, killing Allentownians? Now more than usual, or more than we should normally worry about it, any time anyone in town has the slightest whiff of it we panic, feel the need to pack up, and evacuate, and the entire block gets shut down for the entire night. We're living in fear of another gas explosion but they want to build a STADIUM on top of that.

I remember when they tried to make this happen YEARS ago, and it fell through. It was around the same time I happened to be in a group exhibit at OPEN SPACE GALLERY when it was around called "BLIGHTED", about urban decay. Among the pieces I had in the show was one I kinda made last minute as a joke, and it was the one that actually ended up on the local news that night. I built a little model MOCK stadium out of junk in a dirt "sandbox" with yet more junk around it, and a paper made by the city that showed the blueprints of the pending arena which I believe they were already trying to sell tickets for even though it didn't exist yet. The little scenario included a little American flag, and little street signs that said "7th and Hamilton". On the outside, I re-did the hockey team's logo, and called it "LEHIGH VALLY X-TRUSION". In the arena, I used silver insallation for the "ice", and a little logo toy person that looked like Mayor Heydt (the then mayor). On the outside of the dirt box I painted letters that said, "ANOTHER DOWN TOWN HEYDT CRIME", and "ALL PUCKED UP".

SAVE DOWNTOWN ALLENTOWN! There are MANY things we can do with this money to truly improve center city Allentown, but I believe this is NOT one of them. Listen to the people, city government.



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