Showing posts with label Vacant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacant. Show all posts

December 9, 2018

The Children's Factory Outlet


Cinderella Lives In Pennsylvania March 28, 1988, by ROBERT H. ORENSTEIN

The Morning Call. Once upon a time, a factory in Pa made girls clothing under the Cinderella label. But this fairy tale nearly had a sad ending. Since the mid-1970s, the Cinderella had financial problems and eventually went bankrupt. In 1984, a Salt Lake City company bought the Cinderella label in bankruptcy court, but it pulled out of Pa in November 1986. Except for special efforts by the employees, the Pa factory would have closed. A half-dozen of them formed Kiddie Kloes Inc. and scraped up enough money for a down-payment to buy the machinery. The other 90 or so employees gave up their benefits and severed ties with the union to make it economically feasible for their new bosses to operate. Kiddie Kloes, whose name comes from the way the early-20th century Panther Valley immigrants spelled "clothes," couldn't afford to buy the building from the bank that held the mortgage. A group led by Bucks County businessman George M. Collie, which earlier purchased the rights to produce the Cinderella label, soon will buy the building. The final piece of the puzzle that cleared the way for Collie's group to buy the building fell into place last week. That's when the Carbon County commissioners accepted Collie's offer to pay half of the unpaid real estate taxes due on the building. Earlier, the Panther Valley School Board and Borough Council approved the plan. It's a scenario without any losers. The county, borough and school district will get half of the nearly $24,000 in delinquent real estate taxes, which is a cheap way to save the jobs and ensure that taxes be paid in the future. And the employees, many of whom have spent their entire adult lives working at the plant, will keep their jobs. Rita Chickilly, a 26-year veteran of the plant, summed up the employees' feelings. "We gave up lots. But we needed to. There's nothing else here."


DSC01950

DSC01953

DSC01949

DSC01933

DSC01966

DSC01948

DSC01965

DSC01964

DSC01944

DSC01941

DSC01962

DSC01959

DSC01957

DSC01955

DSC01954

DSC01947

DSC01945


DSC01940

DSC01939

DSC01938

DSC01937

DSC01936

DSC01935

DSC01934

DSC01932

DSC01931

DSC01930

DSC01929

Google

November 4, 2018

house of ill repute


STPMMC, dedicated on May 22, 1899, was a magnificent
Execution of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. STPMMC neatly
packed edifice, an asymmetrical medley of this style, featured a
façade of varied stone and brick. As the city’s oldest congregation,
St. Paul’s was built in the final months of an industrious century,
a church fitting for Hazleton. The structure overlooked the square
that housed Pardee’s mansion, which continued to command
the downtown.

At the height of the Depression, the church underwent major
Renovations, and the congregation dropped “Episcopal” with the
Unification of American Methodists in 1939. By the early 1970s,
the Methodists had merged with the Evangelical United Brethren
denomination, making STPMMC.

STMMP remained an active church through the 20th century.
In the late 1990s, major renovations to the church’s exterior and
Interior reaffirmed the congregation’s commitment to its historic
Presence in the city. But STPMMC could not control the unforeseen
Circumstances that resulted in a precipitous drop in its membership rolls.

Hazleton’s population decline and suburban flight directly impacted
the congregation’s size. As the children of lifelong congregants moved
Elsewhere, the church lost its viability. A corresponding drop in financial
resources followed, andSTPMMC had to reevaluate its future.

The church closed in 2004, nearly 170 years after its formation.
The landmark has since stood vacant, changing ownership, plagued
by instability caused by abandonment.

 STPMMC unfortunate outcome is not unique to post-industrial
Communities. In cities like Hazleton, the domes, spires and columns
of religious structures define the skyline and attest to the
diversity attracted by industry. Although a small city, Hazleton is
Endowed with diverse church architecture, signifying the many
European cultures that built sacred tributes to there
Ancient denominations.

Churches frequently close because they cannot afford the upkeep
of historic structures. Their leaders postpone necessary
maintenance and repairs, struggling to finance the congregation’s
future in a space with a leaking roof, crumbling masonry, or an
outdated mechanical system. STMMP deteriorating condition
is particularly painful, for the congregation maintained the building
until the very end. Just one decade ago, masons and roofers
busily kept pace with the church’s required upkeep. But years
of deterioration, exacerbated by break-ins and no utilities, has
turned STMMP into a blighted property.

In 2012, Hazleton Police Chief walk through the church and
called STMMP a “house of ill repute,” noting the ceiling’s peeling
plaster, beer cans scattered on the floor, and satanic pentagrams
scrawled on the walls. At the time, the building was a den for
vagrants, a nuisance property littered with alcohol containers and
drug paraphernalia.



DSC01967

DSC01070

DSC01038

DSC01043

DSC01068

DSC01066

DSC01974

DSC01075

DSC01072

DSC01064

DSC01062

DSC01061

DSC01059

DSC01056

DSC01055

DSC01050

DSC01047

DSC01046

DSC01045

DSC01044

DSC01037

DSC01036

DSC01035
Google