Save Our Steel in the News

Developer's pullout allows fresh ideas for Steel site

Nine years after its conception, the plan to convert a large strip of former Bethlehem Steel riverfront property to an entertainment/office/museum mecca is back to square one. Well, maybe square two. The overall vision for Bethlehem Works is still sound, and a few projects have come to fruition, among them high-tech business incubators run by the Ben Franklin Technology Centers and a Flyers Skate Zone.

But the recent withdrawal of Delaware Valley Real Estate Investment Fund as the buyer of the land from International Steel Group, the successor to bankrupt Bethlehem Steel Corp., is a disappointment. While other developers, such as Lehigh Valley Industrial Park Inc. and Majestic Realty, are proceeding with the re-use of other parts of the steel tract, Delaware Valley announced that the Bethlehem Works idea no long meshes with its development philosophy. This was after repeated assurances that it was close to sealing the land purchase with ISG.

Still, it's better to start anew with a clean slate than having a developer discover too late that it was a bad fit. Delaware Valley, which oversees pension funds for Philadelphia-area trade unions, had envisioned contracting with developers at the site for investment purposes and to create union jobs.

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan wants to hold planning sessions to rethink the Bethlehem Works Master Plan, which makes sense. Ultimately these decisions rest with ISG and whomever ISG chooses to deal with, but city officials and residents should have a say in the planning and everything should be on the table. The tract is still a huge asset for the city, and several organizations, including ArtsQuest, Northampton Community College and the National Museum of Industrial History, are interested. So are parties looking to build a minor league baseball stadium and hotels.

Those should remain the primary focus. But if a combined entertainment-arts-historical complex isn't able to fill out the entire strip, then the city, ISG and potential developers should weigh other options such as neighborhood services and stores for nearby residents of South Side.