The annual May Day Festival was held at the Alburtis Area Community Center this year after festival organizers were informed by Lehigh County that Lock Ridge Park, the traditional site for the festival, was not safe because the building is in disrepair and is now condemned.

According to bystanders in attendance at the festival, including Francine Confer, who played the part of the jester in this year’s production and coordinated the performance as well as her husband Paul, who provided the music for the festival, a few years ago the park was listed as a historic site.

Lehigh County spent a lot of money repairing the building and fixing up the park, but the building has not been maintained and it is in disrepair.

The furnace was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

The Confers are asking everyone to contact Robert Stiffler, director of parks, at the Lehigh County Bureau of Parks and Recreation office in Allentown and ask to have Lock Ridge Park kept in good repair.