The SteelStacks Campus
Click the map to view a larger version.
The following descriptions of the SteelStacks buildings and plazas relate to the above campus map (from left to right):
- Festival Center (phase 2): The former “Turn and Grind Shop” of the Bethlehem Steel, this building is immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks on the south bank of the Lehigh River.
Click image to view larger version- Performing Arts Center:
The Performing Arts Center, which will be developed, owned and operated by ArtsQuest, will include the 450-seat, cabaret-style Musikfest Café featuring a wide variety of music performances. On Saturday mornings the Café will host “KidTunes,” a music series for families and children. The 4,000-square-foot Blast Furnace Room will be used for community functions and education, and a two-screen art cinema will present independent, foreign and documentary films.
- Music Pavilion: Located on the SteelStacks Plaza, the music pavilion will host a series of music performances and several annual music festivals. The pavilion will present a minimum of 50 free concerts a year for the community to enjoy.
The City of Bethlehem is committed to making substantial physical improvements to the SteelStacks site’s infrastructure and public spaces by creating two plazas, a town square and the city’s new Visitors’ Center. These improvements are an integral component of the SteelStacks campus:
- Festival Plaza: This plaza, located between the Festival Center and the visitors’ center at the western end of the blast furnaces, will be developed by the City of Bethlehem and managed by ArtsQuest. ArtsQuest will activate this plaza with a number of music performances and events, including the South Mountain Folk Festival, River Jazz Festival, Blast Furnace Blues Festival and Steel Jam. It will also host an artist’s market, farmer’s market and an art and antiques market.
- SteelStacks Plaza: This strip of land between the blast furnaces and First Street is being developed with the intent of supporting arts and cultural programming on the site. This area will be the site of a new music pavilion; it will be developed by the City of Bethlehem and activated by ArtsQuest.
- 21st Century Town Square: This plaza faces the iconic Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces. It will be an outdoor community center hosting family events, community celebrations and offering food and beverage service. In addition to viewing the blast furnaces, patrons will have opportunities to watch movies, enjoy “water play” in the fountains or listen to intimate acoustic performances. The square will be developed by the City of Bethlehem, with programming provided by ArtsQuest.
- Visitors’ Center: The industrial Stock House, one of the first buildings built on the Bethlehem Steel property in 1863, will be adaptively reused as the City of Bethlehem’s Visitors’ Center and as a “landing” for the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. The 8,000-square-foot stone and brick building will have ample restrooms, which can be accessed from the exterior in order to support public events on the SteelStacks campus. It is being developed by the city and will be operated by the Lehigh Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.
