Save Our Steel in the News

A new message (and a broader message) can change prospects at Bethlehem Works

From The Morning Call -- April 12, 2004

The original plan for redeveloping the former Bethlehem Steel property in Bethlehem is almost seven years old. It's not a particularly useful document any more.

Some of the entities that figured prominently in it are gone (such as Bethlehem Steel itself), much of the 1,600-acre property either has been developed or is in the process of becoming new industrial tracts. Other pieces of success weren't even in the original plan, at least not in the places they now occupy: three high-tech centers on the western end of the property and the new Flyers Skate Zone ice skating complex. Finally, there is the macro effect of an economy today that is very different from the 1990s boom in which the old plan was created.

Within 12 hours of each other tomorrow, two events in Bethlehem will lay out a substantially different vision for the former Bethlehem Steel property. The supporters behind each are not enemies, but in the past haven't talked much to each other. That has to change.

Tomorrow morning, The National Museum of Industrial History will unveil to reporters and civic leaders some of about 100 industrial artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution that already are in Bethlehem. The museum is an official affiliate of the Smithsonian. NMIH also will introduce its new Leadership Council, about 30 prominent citizens from across the Lehigh Valley who have agreed to raise the additional money needed to start building the museum.

The museum has refined its message. It no longer is talking about the original $250 million plan, which included using the huge No. 2 Machine Shop, an iron and steel showcase and other buildings, a much more ambitious project. Instead, it is asking for support for what it calls Exhibition Hall in the old 1913 Bethlehem Steel Electrical Shop, which is already owns — a $16 million project.

The Exhibition Hall still will be an awesome place. One level will include huge 19th century industrial equipment and another will have exhibits on other industries, ranging from industrial gases to telecommunications. Organizers say they've already raised $11 million in cash and pledges and feel the balance is within reach.

At 7 tomorrow night in Sinclair Auditorium at Lehigh University, a citizen group called Save Our Steel will convene its latest in a series of public workshops. The goal is a new plan for the rest of the Bethlehem Works land. A priority for Save Our Steel is to consult broadly, and many voices are participating: Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, Historic Bethlehem Partnership, South Bethlehem Historical Society and representatives of Lehigh University, to name a few.

The size of the table is important. When the NMIH plans were launched under the auspices of Bethlehem Steel, the instinct was to do things they way the big company always did — on its own. The museum still sees itself as a potential stand-alone piece of the wider Bethlehem Works, but it's not the only one talking.

Much is at stake, in industrial legacy, economic development and in the Valley's quality of life. Perhaps the promise of spring in the air accounts for too much, but for the first time in years, there are signs that good things are about to happen at the former steel plant. People of good will are looking at the opportunities at Bethlehem Works in a new way.

Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call