Stalled economic development in Phillipsburg, budget crises in public schools also among stories that made headlines throughout year.
Developers in October announced that Marriott Renaissance would be the brand running a 180-room hotel connected to a new hockey arena in Downtown Allentown.
The name of the brand -- more a circumstance of coincidence than anything else -- perhaps couldn’t have been more apt for the type of year the region’s three cities experienced. Leaders in Allentown, as well as in Bethlehem and Easton, invoked the word “renaissance” on more than one occasion when describing the new projects unveiled through the course of 2013.
Yet, with every hotel proposal, high-end restaurant opening, storefront ribbon-cutting or upscale housing plan, there remained an undercurrent of concern in the Lehigh Valley and northwestern New Jersey that a full comeback from the economic collapse more than five years ago still seemed far away.
Unemployment went down but remained historically high, smaller towns such as Phillipsburg and Wilson Borough watched longtime businesses disappear and the signs of poverty remained evident in neighborhoods such as Easton’s West Ward, where the high volume of drug-dealing activity prompted what seemed like almost weekly police raids of rental properties.
People in the region expressed frustration in their elected officials on the local, state and federal level. A sense among some that Washington, D.C., was impotent settled in as one catastrophe after another went unaddressed by President Barack Obama and Congress. Apathy appeared to settle in.
New Jersey gave Gov. Chris Christie another term and sent Newark Mayor Cory Booker to the U.S. Senate, but voter turnout was low for both elections. The story was the same in Northampton County, where a small percentage of voters in November elected Bangor Mayor John Brown to county executive. Brown, a Republican, staged a stunning upset over Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, the well-financed Democrat.
Fires, car crashes claim young lives in the region
View full sizeNineteen people were left homeless when the landmark Mineral Springs Hotel in Forks Township burnt to the ground in a case of arson currently working its way through the court system. But for many, apathy wasn’t what kept their minds off the business of governing or lack thereof. Such activity was of little consequence to them in light of the personal tragedies they faced during the year.
In March, four people died in an apartment fire in Emmaus. Another three, including a 4-year-old, perished in a late September blaze in Easton, the city’s first fatal fire in 12 years. Just weeks later, 19 people were left homeless when the landmark Mineral Springs Hotel in Forks Township burnt to the ground in a case of arson currently working its way through the court system.
In July, Jonathan Gercie, 19, and Tanner Sember, 14, both of Alpha, died when the pickup truck in which they were riding ran off River Road and into the Delaware River in Pohatcong Township. The driver and another occupant, 18-year-old Luke Beebe, survived.
In August, people living beyond the region grieved the death of a newborn who police say was suffocated by the mother after she gave birth one night in the restroom of Starter’s Pub in Lower Saucon Township. The case made national headlines. The mother, Amanda Hein, allegedly placed the infant in a bag and stuffed it in the back of a toilet tank. She is awaiting trial on charges of first-degree murder; prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Later that month, another story close to home drew national attention. Rockne Newell is accused of bursting into a public meeting in Ross Township, Monroe County, and opening fire on the crowd in attendance. Citizens tackled and disarmed him but not before his gunfire killed three, police say. Prosecutors in that case are also seeking the death penalty.
And in November, the Lafayette College community banded together in support of freshman Aubrey Baumbach, who was critically hurt in a hit-and-run crash while she was walking home from crew practice. Baumbach remains hospitalized in Massachusetts, and her family has credited those at Lafayette with helping them through the recovery process.
Festivals, new businesses give residents optimism
Despite the misfortunes, Lafayette and other institutions in the region would find reasons to rejoice in 2013. Lafayette rival Lehigh University celebrated C.J. McCollum’s ascension to professional basketball. The four-year starter at Lehigh was picked 10th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in June’s NBA draft.
View full sizeLehigh Valley International Airport hosted its first air show in 16 years this summer. The summer also featured wildly successful events, both new and old. Lehigh Valley International Airport hosted its first air show in 16 years, drawing more than 30,000 people over two days in August. That same month, Musikfest drew nearly 1 million people over 10 days. The high attendance came despite the Philadelphia Eagles not holding training camp at Lehigh, a huge football fan draw that had at least partially overlapped with Musikfest every year in Bethlehem since the late 1990s. In September, the Budweiser Clydesdales toured the region, drawing thousands of spectators.
Elsewhere, venues were finding ways to keep the good times going year-round. In May, Crayola LLC expanded its Crayola Experience in Downtown Easton, a move that the crayon maker hoped would double the number of visitors to the kid-friendly attraction.
View full sizeSeveral high-end restaurants -- including 3rd & Ferry Fish Market in the Lipkinâs Building -- opened for business. It was one component of a number of significant developments that either started or finished in 2013 in Downtown Easton. Groundbreaking occurred in March on a new intermodal center that will house city hall. Several high-end restaurants -- including 3rd & Ferry Fish Market in the Lipkin’s Building -- opened for business.
Developer Mark Mulligan launched ambitious plans for several Easton landmarks including the Alpha Building, which he bought from the city, and the Gov. Wolf Building, which he is buying from Northampton County.
Bethlehem, which has seen rapid redevelopment in recent years of the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. property, continued the trend in 2013. Plans surfaced for a hotel and a destination Bass Pro Shops that would be built adjacent to the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. Steel’s Hoover-Mason Trestle is also being converted into an elevated walkway.
But it was Allentown that perhaps saw the most tangible downtown transformation in the Lehigh Valley in 2013. The PPL Center, the hockey arena that will host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms starting next fall, drew closer to completion. Surrounding office buildings, including one that will host significant Lehigh Valley Health Network operations, cropped up. And developers, enticed by tax incentives made possible by Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone, flocked to the city with additional proposals. Developer Bruce Loch in March pitched a plan for a 33-story building that would be the Valley’s tallest.
Brownfields stay brown; school districts stay in red
Outside the three cities -- in the smaller towns, suburban enclaves and rural stretches -- the impact of a recovering economy wasn’t as apparent. There were success stories such as Upper Macungie Township, which starting next year will become the home of a massive bottling center for Ocean Spray. And just before the end of 2013, FedEx submitted plans for a facility that would employ more than 800 in Allen Township.
But big businesses also shuttered or moved from places where their roots had been set for decades. And the footprints of others that left years ago remained unoccupied.
View full sizeNorton Oil Co. closed abruptly and without warning in November. Flowserve Corp. abandoned Phillipsburg after more than 100 years. The manufacturer of pumps, seals and valves will call Hanover Township in Northampton County its new home. Norton Oil Co. closed abruptly and without warning in November. It not only marked the end of a Phillipsburg institution but also left customers in town and beyond without the heating oil they paid for in advance.
The town-owned Ingersoll-Rand site, once a hub of manufacturing, remained a dormant brownfield through the year. The Phillipsburg Mall struggled to retain tenants.
Palmer Township also lost a longtime employer in 2013. After more than 130 years in operation, the bakery on Northampton Street, which also straddles Wilson Borough, announced plans to shutter. It is now owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA. It’s just a couple hundred yards from the former Dixie Cup plant, which, like the Ingersoll-Rand site, went virtually untouched through the course of the year.
The unoccupied space and the loss of businesses put an added burden on already destitute school districts that rely heavily on property taxes to operate.
The Easton Area School Board eliminated 43 jobs, including 19 teaching positions, while simultaneously increasing taxes on residents in May. The Allentown School District cut 151 positions in this school year’s budget resulting in 100 teachers being laid off, although 26 positions were restored due to an increase in state aid. The Bethlehem Area School District raised taxes but averted layoffs in its most recent budget.
Many educators blamed the districts’ financial crises on state lawmakers, who’ve failed to reform charter and cyber-school laws that the educators say siphon away funding. The lawmakers, some say, have also failed to address the rising costs of mandatory employee pension contributions. Regardless of the reasons, concerns loom about the future of public education next year and beyond.
“My students are not just numbers on a budget spreadsheet,” Jolene Vitalos, president of the Bethlehem Education Association, told a Pennsylvania House panel in February. “They are children with hopes and dreams and desires to succeed. ... They do not get a ‘do-over.’“