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APRIL 2-8, 2026
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Photo of the Month
Photo taken by Diane Cortazzo in Giverny, France during the month of May when she took a trip to visit the famous French painter Claude Monet’s house and the lily ponds there.
Looking by Back Ed Pany Cement Village Today I am driving through Ormrod in North Whitehall Township. The former Giant Cement Company homes still border the highway, recalling an era when cement provided jobs for the village. Many of the workers were newly arrived immigrants. The Lehigh Portland Cement Company owned the plants and prospered there for over 60 years. The Lehigh Portland Cement
Company was organized by General Harry C. Trexler, a famous Lehigh Valley industrialist and philanthropist. The company owned local plants in Ormrod, West Coplay, Fogelsville and Sandt’s Eddy. The first president was General Trexler; George Ormrod was Vice-President. George Ormrod was born in 1839 in Preston, Lancashire, Continued on page 3
One-million-square-foot data center Approved in Allen Township
By KERI LINDENMUTH The Allen Township Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a final plan amendment that would convert a 1,011,808 square-foot warehouse along Liberty Drive into a data center. The decision was made during the township’s March 24 public meeting, following a presentation by Prologis Lehigh Valley, the owners of the property. The warehouse, at 2500 Liberty Drive, was approved in 2016 and constructed in 2023. Prologis requested a change of use for the building from a warehouse to one that would provide “wholesale storage of electronic information,” a use that is permitted in the property’s zone. “There is no sleight of hand or false intention,” attorney Joseph Fitzpatrick, representing Prologis,
Prologis’ 1 million square-foot warehouse on Liberty Drive in Allen Township that was approved to be converted into a data center. -Photo by Prologis. said of this definition, which some Prologis Market Officer Justin residents called “a stretch.” Fanslau said this new definition “There was just no other [zon- simply gives “flexibility to what is ing] definition that was even Continued on page 2 close.”
Lehigh Township Supervisors Examine ordinance changes By LAURA KLOTZ The March 24 meeting of the Lehigh Township Board of Supervisors opened with a report from Matt Wanamaker, representing the Pennoni consulting firm, which is overseeing the revision of the township’s zoning ordinances and SALDO. Wanamaker reported that his staff met with township employees and worked together on a plan to move forward.
They are still working on documentation and map changes, but Township Engineer Michael Muffley stated that the most recent round of comments “really got us going in the right direction.” Supervisor Cynthia Miller added that the current work being done is just on the zoning ordinances, and that the SALDO still remains to be done, but should be much easier. Once completed, the final
draft will be brought to the Lehigh Township Planning Commission. From there, it will go to Continued on page 5
85th Year, Issue No. 14 www.homenewspa.com
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