Whatever happened to Saturday night?”
Whatever happened to Saturday night?”
That was a question asked about Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown for the last several years.
Actually, it was Friday night on Sept. 12, to be exact, when the legendary group the Eagles sang the lyrics “Whatever happened to Saturday night” during the first song ever performed at the new PPL Center arena in the city’s downtown.
It marked a milestone in the revitalization of downtown Allentown; not the start or the finish, but a milestone that marked the opening of the multimillion dollar arena complex, built by local union labor and cement and steel from Pennsylvania.
The opening of the PPL Center and this month’s opening of the Marriot Renaissance Hotel are the latest completed projects that have brought jobs to local laborers, which in turn has sent the Lehigh County economy into a higher gear. Across the street from the complex, local tradesmen and women are busy building apartments which will bring young, urban professionals to live downtown.
Like the spotlights that shined on the members of the Eagles that night at Seventh and Hamilton, the outlook is extremely bright for the Lehigh Valley Building Trades in 2015. Not only are most of its members fully employed, but the need for construction workers has caused an increase in enrollees to union apprenticeship programs, providing more career opportunities for the community.
Three City Center and Four City Center in Allentown, the intermodal/city hall building in Easton, the Route 33 interchange in Wind Gap and the Eighth Street Bridge in Allentown are just some of the major projects being constructed by members of the building trades, earning family sustaining wages and receiving a good benefit package.
On the horizon for 2015, the Hamilton Crossings shopping complex in Upper Macungie Township, the Bass Pro Shop Outlet at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, the Waterfront development in Allentown and the FedEx Transportation Terminal in Allen Township will keep union men and women working throughout this year and beyond. These jobs alone will mean well over $1 billion of work in 2015 – money which will be put back into the local economy.
Thanks to the transportation funding bill passed by the state, the local trades will be busy the next several years with bridges and roadwork, including a new bridge at the Lehigh Valley interchange on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
“We fully expect the positive economic development trend in the Lehigh Valley to continue into 2015,” said Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. “There are several major projects expected to begin [in 2015] that should keep our local building trade construction workers busy.
