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Parks staff report Franklin Park outreach, Bogart's Bridal progress and safety planning for Canal Park
Summary
Parks staff updated the committee on Franklin Park outreach and upcoming community meetings, ongoing construction at Bogart's Bridal (slated to reopen in 2026), consultants starting MLK Phase 2 design, Canal Park safety concept work, special events and recreation program wrap-ups.
Parks staff provided a series of routine project and events updates to the Allentown City Parks & Recreation committee.
The parks representative said a recent Franklin Park community meeting had strong turnout and that consultants will return with design drafts. The transcript records a follow-up community event set for Saturday, March 21 at 01:00 in Franklin Park; the parks representative said consultants will incorporate community feedback before a final meeting in April and, if all proceeds, construction could begin later in the year.
Staff also reported that Bogart's Bridal remains under construction and is "starting to look a little bit more semblance of a bridal" and is still slated to reopen in 2026. Consultants will begin MLK Phase 2 design work and prepare a Canal Park concept plan that focuses on safety, ingress/egress and improving access for fire and police.
On events and recreation, staff invited council members and the public to volunteer for special events (including an Irving Street block party in May, Juneteenth in June and Fourth of July activities), and noted the winter basketball league ended with an all-star day that served "a few 100 kids," according to the transcript.
During a brief exchange a committee member suggested the full council volunteer together at Parks & Rec activities; the parks representative said she would share options and follow up. The chair also asked for public comment on Bill 11 and none was offered.
Note on names: the transcript introduces a parks representative as "miss Toledo" just before she spoke, and at one point the chair addressed "miss Salerno" while the same parks representative provided the updates. The article attributes the updates to the parks representative who spoke in the transcript and who was introduced as Toledo.
