Former Phillie Pitches for Drug & Alcohol Treatment Center

Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Dickie Noles and the principal of a Penn Ridge School District elementary school spoke Wednesday in favor of a proposed inpatient drug and alcohol treatment facility adjacent to Bethlehem Catholic High School on Dewberry Avenue in Bethlehem.

Noles of Glen Mills, who played professional baseball for 16 years and currently is employee assistance director for the Phillies, said he is a recovering alcoholic who has dedicated his life to others, and has seen what treatment facilities can do.

“I can’t see people in treatment are going to pose a danger to anyone in the school. I see no danger. We’re people. Treatment works. It turned my life around,” he said.

Noles, who involuntarily entered Chicago Northwest Medical Hospital in 1983 for treatment after being jailed for assaulting a police officer after a Chicago Cubs game, and Donald Muenker, principal of West Rockhill Elementary School, testified on behalf of developer Abraham Atiyeh’s appeal to put a 70-bed inpatient addictions facility in the former Calvary Baptist Church at 111 Dewberry Ave.

The hearing before the Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board was the last testimony in between Atiyeh’s Pennsylvania Venture Capital company and administrators and parents, a citizens’ action committee, and the city’s zoning officer.

Those opposed contend such a facility would negatively affect the high school’s enrollment because of a perceived safety issue, and is an inappropriate use near ball fields, playgrounds, a day care center, senior living facility and residential area. 

The board will meet at 6 p.m. February 22 to hear oral arguments, and submit a written decision March 30.

Muenker, under questioning by Atiyeh attorney Blake Marles, said the Sellersville elementary school is 40 to 50 yards from the Penn Foundation-owned 33-bed inpatient center and an outpatient facility and 10 yards from the school’s soccer fields. He said he knew of no drug interactions between pupils and treatment center clients, nor incidents involving police.

However, Muenker testified that prior to his employment, an adult from the treatment facility entered the school seeking to register at the school.

Under questioning by Steven Goudsouvian, attorney for the citizen’s group, Muenker conceded that kindergarten through fifth grade pupils are supervised at all times and no unsupervised children are at the school after hours. The school “has become more secure over the years,” he noted, citing security measures being employed.

Noles, one of the heroes of the 1980 World Champion Phillies who also pitched for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles, travels the minor league circuit, counseling players on the dangers of drugs and alcohol, but is not a certified addictions counselor. He said he began drinking at age 12, but never played baseball while under the influence. He said he got sober after being forced to enter treatment April 9, 1983.

While Noles agreed that addicted people can be a danger to themselves and others, he told audience members, who questioned him, that he had no statistical evidence on addictions and sociopathological disorders, and “can’t think of a place where a rehabilitation facility doesn’t belong.”