Cedar Beach Construction 2010: Part One

The paths have yet to be paved in the park and on the Sunday afternoon I visited, there were no bulldozers or construction workers present. There was however, a wide gash of overturned stone and packed gravel where the former path used to be. In many places, this future ribbon of asphalt was brimming with ankle deep water.

It would appear that the philosophy adopted by the parks department at this phase of construction is one of slash and burn. The park is simply torn up, end to end, in a mess that will end with a black topped path that flies in the face of the recommendations of the 2006 Master Plan for Parks and Recreation as well as the current guidelines established by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Both of which discourage to the point of warning, the implementation of “non permeable” surfaces in parks.


These particular developments are personally disheartening and frustrating to see. Being a vocal supporter of the Cedar Beach renovation plans last summer has left me here with egg on my face. I never signed up for the destruction that is occurring.

I want to see our parks improved. My idea of improvement is that of re-naturalization and restoration of ecological health. Those two fundamental principles should be the guiding factors in any park construction or planning process. At Cedar Beach Parkway, in March of 2010, those two principles are being abandoned. In a low lying flood plain, more paving only means more trouble. The grass at Cedar Beach on Sunday was inundated with liquid. This is a frequent condition at Cedar Beach which will increase in severity with more paved surfaces.


Cedar Beach will be turned into the recreational park of at the expense of nature. What little we have left of nature in our urban settings should be preserved and expanded at every opportunity, not destroyed for an idea of progress. There is no progress in our parks that can be beyond nature.

This construction affirms my belief that you, me and anyone else who cares about these parks going forward needs to be as actively and vocally involved as possible. Invasive plant removal at Trout Creek Parkway, creek bank restoration at Jordan Park, and any other environmental project that needs doing in our parks cannot be accomplished with hot asphalt and bulldozers.

Nature needs to be the centerpiece of our parks, not the afterthought.

Let me also state clearly, that I am not a cheerleader for Greg Weitzel nor am I a drone of Mike Molovinsky. I remain firmly on the side of Nature and as such, I state plainly and clearly that what has happened at Cedar Beach Parkway is inexcusable.

I do believe that Mr. Weitzel genuinely cares for Allentown’s park system and is trying to make what are needed improvements. It is the planning and information gathering process that needs help. We need to make sure this does not become a pattern in our parks.

Cedar Beach Parkway once existed as a quiet invitation to nature close to the urban heart of Allentown. The willow trees reached from the creek to take you in, to bring you to a place closer to where the animal spirit inside all of us belongs. Adding riparian vegetation and natural meadow ecosystems would serve only to enhance the natural aesthetic that the park has now lost. What is being created is a lawn, crisscrossed by angular lines that occur nowhere in nature. What once was an ambient escape into a world that we are losing, will be replaced by what will undoubtedly by a noisy setting for scenic path with no opportunity to sense the wonder of the world beyond ourselves.

We need more quiet invitations. Without them, we will remain a lost species with skewed priorities. We will be stewards of a destruction that we should be relentlessly attempting to prevent.

“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.” – John Muir

See Also: The Future of Our Parks