Allentown group laments loss of West Park trees in storm

Allentown’s beloved West Park may have been hardest hit by Saturday night’s storm that downed trees in the city, cutting power to thousands of people.

The West Park Civic Association said that while the storm didn’t damage the bandshell, the fountain and the memorials in the park, several trees in the park’s collection weren’t so lucky. Two mature oaks on the park’s southwest corner were “total losses,” with the larger of the pair uprooted entirely.

“All but two of the trees involved were original to the park’s 1908 planting; reckoning with their loss emotionally will take time,” the association said in a social media post, noting that neighbors were on hand to clean the fountain of fallen limbs and branches.

In addition to the trees that were total losses, several others lost much of their crowns:  a white pine, Japanese pagoda, Kentucky coffee tree, Norway maple, and a black locust, all along the park’s south-central border near the Masonic Temple, according to the association.

“The gingkoes ringing the fountain suffered extensive limb breakage but appear otherwise sound and worth preserving,” the association noted in its post.

Members of the group surveyed the damage after daybreak Sunday. Neighbors helped clear fallen limbs and branches, the association noted.

The fierce storm Saturday ravaged the surrounding neighborhood on Allentown’s West End. One downed tree fell onto an occupied car at North 22nd and West Chew streets.

Thousands of the people in the area were left without power. PPL said that it could take until Wednesday until all of those customers are restored.

One of the West Park Civic Association’s members, who was watching the storm from a porch on 17th Street, said “torrential rain drove from the the west sideways at tremendous speed, transformers burst into arcs of blue light, and limbs and debris hurtled down the street,” according to the social media post.

The group said it has been in touch with the city about next steps.

“We will never stop advocating on behalf of West Park and its historic canopy, pursuing the same expansive vision and legacy-minded foresight that guided its founders, so that generations to come may experience it exactly as they intended.

Anyone interested in supporting the park through donations or volunteer work may contact the association at westpark.ca@verizon.net.