ALLENTOWN, Pa.- It’s not often that the proposed demolition of a small maintenance building prompts public outcry at a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) meeting.
But the stakes are much higher when that shed is what one Midway Manor resident called “the heart of our community.”
On Tuesday, the LVPC’s comprehensive planning committee reviewed the Allentown School District’s plans to expand the Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy at 2020 E. Pennsylvania Street. The school is in the Midway Manor neighborhood on the city’s east side.
The expansion plans include tearing down an existing two-classroom modular building and putting up a new, ten-classroom unit in its place. The footprint of the new building would encroach on what LVPC planners described in their review as “an existing maintenance building,” necessitating its demolition, according to plans submitted by the district.
But members of the Midway Manor Community Association aren’t having it.
That maintenance building is what they fondly call their snack shed, a concession stand that serves as a gathering space and fundraising hub for community events, like a soccer program, Easter egg hunt, and trunk-or-treat event at Halloween.
Alice Romberger, the vice president of the community association, which was founded in 1958, was one of several Midway Manor residents who spoke at the LVPC meeting. “What I’m asking, is there a way that the Allentown School District could possibly reconfigure the placement of the modular, or if the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission could give a slight variance of a few feet to allow our concession stand to remain standing. We need your help,” she told the panel.
Michele Kuti, another Midway Manor resident, said news that the snack shed was in peril left her and her husband “fit to be tied.”
“This is really the heavy hand coming over a community that has been nothing but children-oriented, family-oriented for generations,” Kuti said.
Members of the comprehensive planning committee pointed out that the LVPC functions as an advisory body only; ultimately, the project’s approval rests with the Allentown Planning Commission.
Jennifer Gomez, the city’s planning director, is also an LVPC commissioner. During Tuesday’s meeting, she said the city is aware of the concerns regarding the concession stand, and that those concerns have been relayed to the school district.
The Allentown Planning Commission is scheduled to review the plans at its meeting on March 10.
The LVPC’s comprehensive planning committee did approve adding an official amendment to the staff review, encouraging the school district to consider community impact, as well as the long-term support from Midway Manor, in the project’s final design.
The next step in the process will be for the full LVPC to consider the review, which is scheduled to happen on Thursday. The meeting, held virtually on Microsoft Teams, begins at 7 p.m.