Save Our Steel in the News

Steel listed as endangered historic site

Trust's designation could help raise money for industrial museum.

By Nicole Radzievich of The Morning Call

From The Morning Call -- May 25, 2004

A national preservation group Monday put the old Bethlehem Steel plant on its most-endangered list with a warning that developers could tear down the towering blast furnaces, machine shop and iron foundry to make way for big-box stores.

Along with 10 other sites, such as the final resting spot of Seabiscuit in California and the tobacco barns of southern Maryland, the designation puts Steel on the national stage at a time when community leaders are trying to raise money for an industrial museum at the site.

''This is a very significant steel plant … it tells the story of industrial America,'' said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. ''The steel plant can make history come alive better than any book or lecture.''

The designation from the nonprofit trust guarantees no money and it does not have the power of National Historic Landmark status — a federal government designation that would have put the plant in line for government grants — which Bethlehem has yet to secure.

However, the trust's designation could attract the attention of deep-pocketed foundations across the country. For the 160 places already named endangered, the status has provided a mixed bag of results.

For Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the trust says the designation helped pave the way for a $140 million public-private partnership to undertake a major redesign of Independence Mall, including a new visitors center. Meanwhile, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana is still threatened by development 16 years after being designated as endangered, according to the trust.

Bethlehem leaders welcome the designation.

''This really raises the awareness of this site,'' Mayor John Callahan said. ''In order for this project to take a step forward, we need to reach beyond the Lehigh Valley.''

The National Trust touts the old plant as the ''birthplace of integrated steelmaking'' that made steel for landmark structures like the Golden Gate Bridge. The plant features about 25 structures dating to 1863 on 120 acres slated as an entertainment and retail district. Grand plans have been pitched ranging from a Smithsonian-affiliated museum to an arts park.

Since the Steel furnaces went cold in 1995, virtually nothing has been done to protect the buildings — a condition, the trust says, that led to deterioration and vandalism.

But development, the trust says, is the ''greatest threat'' — what is done with the property could determine which Steel buildings are razed and others preserved.

While community leaders have grand visions for the site, it remains in private hands — International Steel Group of Cleveland got the land when it bought bankrupt Bethlehem Steel.

ISG President and Chief Executive Officer Rodney Mott said the historic value of the property has always been part of the redevelopment dialogue.

''We have no long-term plans for that property and are cooperating with community leaders,'' Mott said. ''We will look to the community to see how they want to reuse that site.''

ISG has an agreement of sale with developer Michael Perrucci's BethWorks Now. Perrucci, who did not return a telephone call seeking a comment Monday, has been meeting with local leaders but has yet to unveil his proposal for the site.

State Rep. T.J. Rooney, D-Bethlehem, said preservation includes a ''tremendous cost'' and BethWorks Now has indicated it's interested in preserving some of the historical structures.

ISG has an agreement for a portion of the site for the National Museum of Industrial History, but fund raising for the $16 million project had been losing steam.

After four years of sparse donations and no construction, museum officials recently introduced a team of business and community leaders they believe will raise the final $5 million needed for the Exposition Hall. Museum officials are hoping to know by July 1 whether the capital campaign will raise the money needed to construct the building that would house 100 artifacts from the 1876 Centennial Exposition.

''This comes at an excellent time as we get going with our capital campaign,'' museum President Stephen Donches said. ''I think this will open up a lot of possibilities — the blast furnaces and No. 2 Machine Shop and other areas.''

That comes as good news to a grass-roots group that organized to preserve the Steel plant. While museum fund raising has focused on Exposition Hall, members of Save our Steel have been lobbying to preserve the five blast furnaces and the 330,000-square-foot No. 2 Machine Shop.

''The main benefit of all this is the national attention it brings,'' said Michael Kramer, co-founder of Save our Steel. ''This can translate into real actions.''

Bill Mineo, manager for stewardship and trails for the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage corridor said higher visibility is crucial in preservation, especially in a time when it is tough to get federal grants.

''This draws attention big time,'' said Mineo, whose organization applied for the designation from the National Trust. ''It alerts the donors in the field, all of the big foundations throughout the country.''

Mineo added that the group will continue to seek new designations for the plant such as National Historic Landmark status. The earliest the National Park Service will consider the plant, Mineo said, would be in the fall.

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