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Monday, June 19, 2017

Steel Stacks Receives Rudy Bruner Award


Though both The Express Times and Morning Call have beat me to the punch on this one, I still want to note that SteelStacks Arts and Cultural Campus in Bethlehem is the recipient of this year's Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence. That award means more than some plaque. It carries with it a $50,000 cash award to enhance the project.

Steel Stacks, as we in the Lehigh Valley all know, has replaced a rusting steel mill with a public plaza that includes Levitt Pavilion outdoor amphitheater, Bethlehem Visitor Center, ArtsQuest Center, PBS39 public broadcasting center, and Hoover-Mason Trestle Park. Nearly every day of the year, there's something to do there. If Bethlehem is the jewel of the Lehigh Valley, and I think it is, Steel Stacks is the jewel of Bethlehem. It represents everything that is right about urban living, something that even a hick like me can understand and appreciate.

Without visionary leaders like Jeff Parks, Mayors Don Cunningham and John Callahan, this never would have happened. But all three of them would tell you that it is another pioneer who turned their dream into reality.
Tony Hanna and his wife of  44 years.
That person is Tony Hanna. You usually only see his name in the papers when something has gone wrong. But behind the scenes, he is the man who made it happen. He put decades of planning skills to work, and even now, as Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority, he continues to add to the city's arts district. His vision is of "a public gift, a place that is helping to reinvent and redefine our city while embracing and celebrating its cherished industrial past." Jeff Parks has also called Steel Stacks "a permanent gift ... that will attract the creative workforce that we need to be successful in the future."
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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 19, 2017 at 4:25 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. AnonymousJune 19, 2017 at 6:41 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. AnonymousJune 19, 2017 at 7:49 AM

    Rust and deteroration continue to accumulate on the 'stacks," How soon will they begin to collapse ? Is there any type of preventive maintenance going on ?

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  4. AnonymousJune 19, 2017 at 4:03 PM

    ....not to mention millions in public money. How much does Lehigh County contribute to steel stacks? How much stormwater runoff detention basins do you see to support all those parking lots? Meanwhile, little joe business man has a different set of rules to follow.

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  5. AnonymousJune 19, 2017 at 6:12 PM

    Little Joe, I would not drive all the way to Bethlehem just to do business with you, but I DO drive all the way to Steel Stacks because I really like it there, and while I am there, I end up eating at your place or shopping at it or getting a needed service there, because that whole sector of Bethlehem is walkable and inviting.

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