BETHLEHEM -- The ore bridge that hangs motionless off Daly Avenue east of the Minsi Trail Bridge would frame the casino built to its north.
Flowing into hallowed grounds that helped build national landmarks and feed generations of families, the elevated rail would carry slots players and visitors to an upscale mall nearly the size of the Lehigh Valley Mall.
Freed from asbestos and mold, the Steel General Office building would become apartments. The landmark blast furnaces and the massive No. 2 Machine Shop building also will be spared the wrecking ball, under the plans.
These and other Bethlehem Steel Corp. structures on the Bethlehem Works redevelopment site were identified Wednesday as those planned for preservation by the land's proposed developers.
The BethWorks Now team released the information five days before city council begins to consider banning gambling from the land south of the Lehigh River, running from about the Fahy Bridge to the old ore bridge.
The dozen or so structures, including Northampton Community College's South Side campus and the National Museum of Industrial History site on Third Street, were chosen for preservation based on three or four months of study, said BethWorks Now representative Rob DeBeer.
Those structures eyed for demolition were deemed too deteriorated to refurbish and reuse.
"The work we've done to date leads us to believe these are the buildings that will be preserved," DeBeer said.
BethWorks Now principal Michael Perrucci has said he and the other developers would put in writing which buildings are guaranteed for preservation, provided city and state officials approve a slots license for the site.
The process of putting preservation plans on paper continued Wednesday, DeBeer said. Perrucci was unavailable for comment on the status of a written commitment.
Without revenue from state-licensed gambling, the developers say they would not have the money to preserve any of the structures. With slots, BethWorks Now plans to incorporate the structures into an estimated $879 million entertainment, retail and residential complex.
Citing moral concerns and documented social problems tied to gambling, city Councilmen Gordon Mowrer and Joseph Leeson Jr. say slots are not right for Bethlehem. They co-sponsored a proposal banning gambling from Bethlehem Works and other parts of the city earmarked for redevelopment.
A public hearing on the proposed law is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday in the auditorium of Broughal Middle School, 125 W. Packer Ave. Council will accept public comment at the hearing, then reconvene the meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Town Hall for a first vote on the law. The final vote is scheduled for Oct. 4.
The city planning commission on Aug. 24 voted unanimously to recommend council reject Mowrer and Leeson's proposal. They said the law as written fails to say where in Bethlehem is appropriate to have gambling, a land use legalized last year by state officials.
Commissioners directed Mayor John Callahan's administration to contract an independent consultant for a comprehensive study on incorporating a slots casino in the city's zoning laws. The study should begin by Dec. 31, according to their recommendation.
Darlene Heller, the city's planning and zoning director, said the study would consider and plan for all potential impacts of slots.
Reporter Kurt Bresswein can be reached at 610-867-5000 or by e-mail at kbresswein@express-times.com.