SOS In The News

Group mobilizes to preserve Steel's past

Save our Steel wants to get politicians and other like-minded agencies involved.

Thursday, September 16, 2004
By GREGG W. BORTZ
The Express-Times

BETHLEHEM -- The final sale of Bethlehem Works to a real estate investor has officials relieved, but now the pressure is on for a small group that hopes to influence how the historic Bethlehem Steel site is developed.

BethWorks Now, an investment group led by Upper Saucon Township attorney Michael Perrucci and some New York real estate executives, closed the deal on the 135-acre, vacant industrial complex Tuesday.

Save Our Steel, a grassroots effort led by area residents Michael Kramer and Amey Senape, gathered about a dozen people Wednesday night to "kick up a notch" the group's effort to assure historic industrial relics at the site are preserved.

Kramer and Senape want to turn their group into a nonprofit called "Friends of the Steel" they hope would become an umbrella for various groups wanting community input on Bethlehem Works redevelopment.

The current tract includes vacant buildings, the former Bethlehem Steel headquarters on East Third Street, parking lots and five rusted blast furnaces that tower over the Lehigh River.

Perrucci and his partners have said they don't have specific plans for the site yet, but Perrucci has promised to preserve the blast furnaces and as much of the historic buildings as possible.

But the site also needs to generate a profit that would offset not only the undisclosed sale price, but possibly tens of millions of dollars that will be needed for environmental cleanup and site development.

Attendees at Wednesday night's meeting, held at Deja Brew coffee shop on Third Street, acknowledged they would need to move fast if they expect any influence.

Ranjeet Pawar, owner of the Monsoon art gallery at 11 E. Third St., believes the developers have a plan but won't disclose it.

"I don't think they dropped a few million dollars without knowing what they're doing," Pawar said.

Pawar raised a concern to Kramer and Senape that several disparate groups are interested in what happens at Steel.

He suggested the group form a closer alliance with Steve Donchez, chief executive officer of the proposed National Museum of Industrial History at Bethlehem Works.

Sally Handlon of Lehigh University's Small Business Development Center said the organization first needs to get state legislators involved to put "financial leverage" against the developers.

"They're going to need a lot of public money to develop that project," Handlon said. "Taxpayers are going to pay for that site one way or another."

Local politicians do carry some weight with the project.

Perrucci, a politically connected Democrat, is the law partner of former New Jersey Gov. Jim Florio, who came by the Steel property through contact with state Rep. T.J. Rooney and Bethlehem City Council President J. Michael Schweder.

The Save Our Steel group has made inroads with Mayor John Callahan, whose office has largely been a clearinghouse of interested parties wanting contact with Perrucci.

Kramer and Senape want to hold a large public meeting in the near future to hear community input for the site.

Kramer said he believed involvement in the preservation efforts of the group would begin to "steamroll."

ArtsQuest President Jeff Parks also attended the meeting briefly. ArtsQuest is the nonprofit parent organization of Musikfest, Chistkindlmarkt and the Banana Factory. Outside the coffee shop, Parks said he's spoken with the developers about his own plans since Tuesday but wouldn't elaborate.

Parks envisions a large arts park at the site, including home for several nonprofit and arts organizations including a new facility for WLVT-TV 39, the Lehigh Valley's public television station.

But for all the public's interest, Parks said Bethlehem Works is ultimately a private project that will be guided by money.

Still, he added, "I don't think they're going to ignore the public."

Some raised concerns of how much the public is interested.

Former steelworker Eric Quimby said his ex-colleagues largely don't care about Steel's history.

"They feel bitter and they can't look beyond the bitterness of losing the job," Quimby said.