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| A GRASSROOTS EFFORT TO PRESERVE BETHLEHEM'S PAST WHILE ENSURING ITS ECONOMIC FUTURE | ||
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SOS In The NewsBethWorks plan keeps furnaces, not museumProposal would turn Steel machine shop into stores and lofts.By Chuck Ayersand Matt Assad Of The Morning Call December 17, 2004 The lavish slots parlor planned for south Bethlehem would pay symbolic homage to Bethlehem Steel's legacy by using existing buildings, illuminating the blast furnaces and blending industrial motifs into its design. The plan leaves out a long-sought National Museum of Industrial History, but could accomplish what Bethlehem has been unable to do in the past eight years — redevelop vacant industrial brownfields while paying tribute to Steel's place in history. Steel's 300,000-square-foot No. 2 Machine Shop, once envisioned as the museum's home, instead would contain swanky retail stores, restaurants and residential lofts. ''We're building a city,'' said Michael Perrucci, a partner in the New York development group BethWorks Now, which bought 124 acres of Steel land. ''When you live here, you'll park your car and you're never leaving.'' Though the latest plans include a 30,000-square-foot Exposition Hall for artifacts, preserve several former Steel buildings and restore the hulking blast furnaces, they don't include the $200 million museum. The museum was the centerpiece of a $450 million plan to redevelop the former Steel lands into an entertainment and shopping district. But the plan has been plagued by a lack of money and investors since Bethlehem Steel unveiled it in 1997. Hank Barnette, a former Bethlehem Steel chairman and member of a museum Leadership Council trying to preserve the site, said he hasn't given up hope. ''The development of a national museum affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution was and continues to be our objective,'' Barnette said. ''In fairness to the BethWorks Now group, I'm going to reserve judgment until they present final plans.'' Stephen Donches, executive director and chief executive officer of the National Museum of Industrial History, did not return phone calls Thursday. One day after it was announced that BethWorks Now and the Las Vegas Sands would develop the 124-acre former Steel land, a project that was envisioned to cost $450 million has more than doubled into one that could draw as much as $1 billion in investment, BethWorks Now and city officials said Thursday. The overhead rail car that once carried ore from Steel's ore yard to the blast furnaces will be refurbished to ferry people from an opulent slots parlor and conference center to the retail and residential parts of Bethlehem Works, west of the Minsi Trail Bridge, Perrucci said. About 1,000 residential lofts would be incorporated into the plan, with a cinema, eight restaurants and two hotels. A 5,000-seat indoor arena with glass behind the performance stage would give spectators a view of illuminated blast furnaces in the background. The arena would also serve as the main stage for Musikfest, the 10-day arts and music festival in August. A large ''lifestyle center'' would incorporate the ruins of Steel's former iron foundry in its western wall and offer stores like Urban Outfitters and outdoor cafes. Bethlehem Works would also give a home to ArtsQuest's plans for an arts walk on the South Side. Jeff Parks, executive director of ArtsQuest, said he wasn't prepared to talk about details of his place in the BethWorks Now plan. But he confirmed that ArtsQuest, the private nonprofit that runs Musikfest and Christkindlmarkt, will play a major role in the development plan around the slots parlor. ''At this time, ArtsQuest can confirm that we are taking a leading role in a collaboration with approximately a dozen Lehigh Valley arts/cultural organizations and educational nonprofit organizations to work with the principals of BethWorks Now Inc. on a proposal to develop a portion of the former Bethlehem Steel property,'' Parks said. Mayor John Callahan said he's not ready to take sides on where, or if, a slots parlor should come to Bethlehem, but he said the potential windfall is like nothing Bethlehem has ever seen. ''The $10 million ''While I'm not necessarily promoting gaming, the economics are strong,'' Callahan said. ''We would be looking at almost a guarantee of reducing taxes, and no prospects of a tax increase for years to come.'' State Rep. T.J. Rooney, D-Lehigh/Northampton, who long supported locating a slots parlor on the Bethlehem Works site, said the plans being made by Las Vegas Sands should not be confused with the tacky neon look of the Las Vegas strip. ''This isn't some kind of seedy casino with a neon cowboy out front,'' Rooney said. ''This is not a pie-in-the-sky plan. If the slots license is awarded, this will happen almost overnight, and unlike the original Beth Works plan, it will happen without a nickel of public funds.'' The BethWorks Now plan, while lucrative for the city, could force preservationists to give up their dream of building the National Museum of Industrial History. In April, members of the museum's Leadership Council set a goal to raise $2 million by July and $5 million by the end of the year. The council has deflected questions about how much has been raised, and no construction plans have been filed. Perrucci said he believes he can serve both economics and preservation. ''We're going to help develop Exposition Hall, we're going to preserve several buildings and we're allocating museum space,'' Perrucci said. ''With the space we have, we can do a lot.'' 610-861-3634 Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call |
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