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Posted Jun 13, 2011, 2:21 PM
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furified freestyle
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: philadelphia, pa
Posts: 12,294
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pom wonderful blah blah blah: altoona, pennsylvania
Maybe you caught this little news blip back in April: the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania changed its name. The latest documentary by Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker most famous for Super Size Me, is called Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and is about product placement and advertising. Sheetz, a convenience store based in Altoona -- and historically one of my all time favorite chains, but whose product has severely declined in recent years (higher prices, smaller portions, even with shmuffins!) -- is featured prominently in the movie.
Accordingly, and to illustrate how everything has a price, Altoona agreed to ceremonially, and officially, rename the city "Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, PA" for sixty days -- April 27 to June 25 -- for a total of $25,000. A total of $25,000 -- not $25,000 a day. Spaced out over 60 days, that is $416 a day for the city of Altoona's coffers. And the best part? The movie is NOT SHOWING IN ANY OF ALTOONA'S THEATERS.
After a premiere at Altoona's Jaffa Shrine attended by Spurlock and Altoona mayor Bill Schirf, Pom Wonderful made a fast exit from the Altoona cinema circuit. Frankly, I'm embarrassed to admit that I still haven't seen it, but uh, I wanted to watch it in the city that renamed itself for the film. One would think that part of an agreement to brand a city based on a movie would be to ensure that the movie was playing in said city, more so considering there are three cineplexes to choose from. But nope.
That Altoona bothered with a Morgan Spurlock documentary is kind of amusing anyway. As a Tyrone native, I recognize this sounds a little neener-neener, but a lot of people (myself included) suspect that this was a direct answer to last year's Hollywood blockbuster Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson. That action flick, which grossed $167M, about an unmanned runaway train, filmed a pivotal scene 15 miles north of Altoona in Tyrone, which stood in admirably as Arklow. (Several people I know were extras in the movie -- an old smoking buddy of mine was an FBI agent, and my 8th grade health ed teacher was a state trooper who got a serious slow-mo pan.) Tyrone's star turn was a stick in Altoona's craw especially because Altoona considers itself Railroad City, USA.
Rightfully so. Altoona has a strong, historical identity with the railroad. The city was founded in 1849 by the Pennsylvania Railroad to be a major workshop; it was incorporated in 1854. The Altoona Railroaders Museum --railroadcity.com -- has enormous displays on the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Altoona Works (the rail yard that grew to be the largest in the world, with 16,000 employees), a model railroad (which seems way smaller now than it did in my 4th grade trip there), and a cache of vintage PRR cars, including cabooses. The $10 admission there is reciprocal with the Horseshoe Curve, a national historic landmark on the Pennsylvania main line.
The Horseshoe Curve opened in February 1854, completing a seamless, singular railroad line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and cutting the travel time between the two from four days (across the Allegheny Portage, which used a series of 10 inclines to move trains across the Allegheny Summit) to a single day. (It's now a seven and a half hour ride on Amtrak's Pennsylvanian.) The Curve was so important an engineering feat that it was targeted both by Robert E Lee's Confederate Army during the Civil War and Hitler's Nazis in the 1940s as part of Operation Pastorius.
The Pittsburgh Pirates' AA baseball team derives its name from the landmark: the Altoona Curve. The Curve joined the Eastern League in 1999, their home games played at Blair County Ballpark, which has a rightfield view of the Skyliner, a 1960 rollercoaster that was moved to Altoona's Lakemont Park in 1987. Lakemont Park is also home to Leap the Dips, the oldest active rollercoaster in the country, dating back to 1902. Because what you want in a thrill ride is seniority . . .
The Curve are the Eastern League's defending champions, by the way. They defeated the Yankees' AA Trenton Thunder, who conveniently had championship series access to Andy Pettitte as he was rehabbing his groin last September. The Curve also hosted Washington Nationals wunderboy Stephen Strasburg as he made his professional debut for their AA Harrisburg Senators in Blair County Ballpark. I watched the game on mlb.tv and took screen captures.
* * *
The 2010 Census put Altoona's population at over 46,000, 10th largest in PA (Philly, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Harrisburg). Demographic wise, Altoona is 96% white, 2.5% black, 1.5% other. Its peak population was 82,000 in the 1930s at the commercial height of the PRR.
Altoona doesn't have much of a skyline, but there are some nice buildings scattered across town's rolling hills. The Altoona Hospital, a white, 13 story prefab concrete tower, is the tallest building in town and opened in 1978.
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, whose construction began in 1924 and completed with a dedication in 1960, is more prominent due to its hilltop location downtown.
The American flag on nearby Gospel Hill is the landmark that usually accompanies the Cathedral in local advertising and graphics.
* * *
Jaffa Shrine, the pseudo-Arabian arena with a 3,000+ capacity and home to the region's body of shriners, opened in 1930 and was the largest convention center in the area until the Blair County Convention Center opened last decade. I've been to the circus and gun show here.
* * *
Baker Mansion, the Greek Revival home built in 1849 by ironmaster Elias Baker, is now home to the Blair County Historical Society. It is rumored to be haunted; I only visited it in third grade, but I remember a strong scent of strawberries there. Mansion Park, Altoona High's nearby football stadium, takes its name from the home and has hosted several PIAA state championships.
* * *
The Juniata Shops, home to a significant job base operated by Norfolk Southern, keep the Altoona rail yards active, albeit a fraction of what they were a century ago. The ridge in the backdrop in the above photo is Brush Mountain. The Little Juniata River flows northward in its valley; where the mountain tapers off in the distance is where Tyrone sits.
Here we go Steelers.
* * *
Boyer Brothers Candies, the confectioner responsible for the Mallo Cup and the Smoothie Cup, is based in Altoona and briefly bought the naming rights to Lakemont Park, labeling it Boyertown USA for two years in the 1980s. I would assume that yellow tank is filled with marshmallow goo.
* * *
This crazy sign is a relic of a failed rebranding effort by the city in I believe the late 80s to bring people back downtown: InTown Altoona, after suburban developments like the Logan Valley Mall and Pleasant Valley Boulevard strip malls depleted its vibrancy. They're an amazing contrast to the remaining historic structures and deafening silence of downtown's inactivity.
Heritage Plaza hosts jazz concerts in the summer and a Thursday farmer's market.
A.G. Curtin was Pennsylvania's governor during the Civil War.
* * *
The Altoona Transportation Center is one of the seemingly few practical places in the country that has its intercity transit options, Amtrak and Greyhound, centrally located with access to local transit (Amtran).
* * *
Tim's American Cafe is home to the world's greatest hot wings, and I'm not entertaining any challengers. Their wings, sauce baked on, have been a consistent grand slam since I started going there in high school, and are still as good as they've ever been.
* * *
Altoona Railroaders Museum.
I mean, this is a cool model railroad, but the one I remember as a kid was in a big, bright, airy room and had a scaled model of the Horseshoe Curve in addition to all the city works stuff.
Modern industry shadowing the ancient.
Oh, prudish Pennsylvania.
* * *
Mishler Theatre, 1906.
* * *
First Methodist Episcopal Church, 1905.
* * *
Altoona Trust Company Building, 1901.
* * *
Penn Alto Building, 1921.
* * *
This may not look like much, but this old Sheetz is an endangered remnant of a fading era. Since the mid-90s, Sheetz' model has been one of a Las Vegas convenience store, with bright colors, lots of square footage and mandatory gas stations. I'm surprised this old signage was never overhauled.
* * *
First National Bank Building, 1924.
* * *
Holy Trinity Church, built in the 1898 as the Mountain City Hebrew Reform Congregation. The synagogue sold to the Greek Orthodox Church in 1924.
* * *
Temple Beth Israel, where the Mountain City synagogue's congregation moved in 1927.
* * *
St James Lutheran Church, 1890
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Altoona Bible Church, 1952. I love this building.
* * *
Finally, some general scenes around Altoona to round it out.
Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, PA -- the city of 46,000 that renamed itself after a movie for $416 a day and then didn't show the movie in town. But you and I can keep calling it Altoona.
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