SOS In The News

NCC buying South Side building

Friday, September 17, 2004

By NICK FALSONE
The Express-Times

BETHLEHEM -- By this time next year, Northampton Community College will be serving more than 1,200 students at a new campus in a former Bethlehem Steel Corp. building on South Third Street.

The South Side campus has been a vision for college administrators and city officials for several years, and on Thursday, they announced a sale agreement that will make it a reality.

The college will purchase the building for $2 million from the Da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology, which has operated out of the building for close to a decade. NCC then hopes to pump another $8 million to $10 million into renovations for the new satellite campus.

By next June, adult literacy classes will move into the building, officials said. Credit classes will begin there by next fall. Some of the programs the college is proposing to launch include theater, computer training, small business management and general education courses.

"Our intent it to develop a strong presence in the South Side community by providing quality programs that strengthen the family and the individual and which serve as a catalyst for the delivery of education and job training," NCC President Arthur Scott said.

Da Vinci Discovery Center Executive Director Lin Erickson said the agreement of sale also has tremendous benefits for her organization. The nonprofit group, which provides science and technology programs to children, will be breaking ground for its new facility in Allentown within a month.

Most of the $7.6 million needed to pay for the new facility, at Hamilton and Cedar Crest boulevards, has already been secured. The $2 million for the sale of the South Third Street building will go toward an endowment program that will support science educators and programs, Erickson said.

"We are thrilled that the college is going to use this space," Erickson said. "We see ourselves as totally enmeshed in the regional community and believe in partnerships that foster growth and development."

Mayor John Callahan joined Scott and Erickson at a news conference announcing the agreement.

Callahan said the announcement adds to what has already been a remarkable week for Bethlehem in terms of the progression of redevelopment on former Steel land.

On Tuesday, investment group BethWorks Now completed its purchase of 135 acres from the land's previous owner, International Steel Group, for an undisclosed price.

On Wednesday, ground was broken on Commerce Center Boulevard, which will provide access from Route 412 to the 1,600 acres of industrial parks being developed on the eastern portion of the land.

"This is just another significant step in the renaissance and redevelopment of Bethlehem," Callahan said of the college deal.

The significance of the South Side campus has also drawn attention from Harrisburg. The state has earmarked $5 million in funding for the college's campus plans. No official announcement has been made, but some local state lawmakers said they are confident something will develop soon.

State Rep. Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton/Lehigh, said he is optimistic the state funding will come through soon. He said the announcement of the sale agreement should help speed up the process.

Scott said if the college gets state money, it will go toward the renovations. Most of the remaining cost of the renovations will come from private donations raised by the college as part of its "Promises to Keep Campaign," which was launched last October with a goal of raising $13.5 million for the South Side campus and several other major projects.

The college has already received $3 million in commitments from private donors that will go toward the purchase of the building and some of its renovations, Scott said.

The $8 million to $10 million worth of renovations is only an estimate, and no detailed renovation plan for the campus has been completed.

The college in general will be looking at creating a combination of offices, classrooms, laboratories and studios in the building, Scott said. The campus will employ more than 50 full-time staff members when credit courses begin next fall, he said.

Parking will be available in the lots adjacent to the building, but the college also plans to work with the Bethlehem Parking Authority to arrange additional places for students to park in the South Side.

NCC Dean of Community Education Paul Pierpoint will become the South Side campus's dean. One of his first tasks will be to form a community advisory board to help guide the campus's development.

Scott said the college plans to move quickly on the development, citing the idea for a South Side campus has already been several years in the making.

The college announced plans last year to renovate Steel's former East Annex into classroom space for the campus. The East Annex is part of the 135-acre plot that BethWorks Now purchased. Negotiations with the investment group stalled last month, and the college explored other options.

The Da Vinci Discovery Center's move to Allentown should be completed by next fall, Erickson said. The group will continue offering programs out of the Bethlehem building until the end of this school year, Erickson said.

Reporter Nick Falsone can be reached at 610-867-5000 or by e-mail at nfalsone@express-times.com.