Until the early 2000s, The Bethlehem Steel gobbled most of Bethlehem's south side. For a time, especially during WWII, it was one of the largest steelmakers and shipbuilders in the world. When the company closed, the Christmas City fell on hard times. It has rebuilt itself, not with manufacturing, but with entertainment, the arts and tourism. Wind Creek Casino now occupies much of the Bethlehem Steel complex. Instead of steel ingots, it deals in plastic poker chips. Most of the rest is now the ArtsQuest home base. It's no Bethlehem Steel, but it's a pretty big operation for an organization that started by selling Musikfest mugs over a 10-day festival. Kassie Hilgert, who has replaced Jeff Parks as the helmsperson for this uniquely Bethlehem venture, updated Northampton County Council last week on her latest $66 million capital campaign.
ArtsQuest is well on its way to raising $66 million for a Cultural Center ($22 million), Turn & Grind Shop ($14 million) and improvements to its Center ($2 million). In addition to the brick and mortar projects, it is establishing cash reserves of $2.2 million, $4 million in risk capital and a $22 million endowment.
In addition to Musikfest, ArtsQuest sponsors several other events and festivals like Oktoberfest, Christkindlmarkt, Slainte, Ginvitational, Bikefest and Icerink at SteelStacks, According to Hilgert, its economic impact was $122 million last year. This ripples into numerous businesses.
Northampton County has pledged $1 million over 10 years to help fund the cultural center, which replaces the old banana factory. It has also pledged $1 million over 10 years for the Turn & Grind Shop.
The $2.2 million in cash reserves makes ArtsQuest self-insured in the event that mother nature interferes with a festival, as it sometimes does. The $4 million is risk capital covers events like the Ice Rink, which has lost money so far.
The cultural center will replace six banana factory buildings with a single, five-story structure. The top floor is set back to make it less noticeable. It will include a MakerSpace for welding, 3D printing and woodworking. The building will have broadband for anyone who needs it. It will includes space for artists. The fifth floor will remain empty for now.
The Turn & Grind, a 150 year-old Bethlehem Steel building, can be turned into an event center with seating for 1,000. It will be a beer hall during Oktoberfest, and will provide space during Christkindlmart. It can also serve as an emergency shelter.
Council member Tara Zrinski, who said she's an occasional patron at SteelStacks, reacted to a detailed explanation of a $66 million investment, complained about the plastic cups. "Can you just get the eco friendly ones?" she asked. She also suggested getting LEED certification for this redevelopment, which Hilgert said would be cost prohibitive. Zrinski also wondered about the displacement of artists at Pennsylvania Youth Theatre, located at the Banana Factory. Hilgert responded she offers space at below market rates.
Hilgert told Council member John Goffredo that she'd like to background for both the cultural center and turn & grind by the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.
Blogger's Note: I don't drink or care at all for loud bands, so ArtsQuest has little appeal to me personally. But I believe it does great work for the community. My sole concern is whether elected officials are getting free tickets to different events.
What is "turn and grind"? Is that a machine shop?
ReplyDeleteNot all of us are familiar with the term "turn and and grind".
It is the building identified by my third photo and I believe it was some sort of machine shop. BS alumni would know.
ReplyDeleteNice to see planning for whole community; woefully absent in Easton.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess we can expect another "line item FEE" from the moneygrabers?
ReplyDeleteOf course elected officials receive tickets to premium ArtsQuest events. They are not always received directly from ArtsQuest, however. Blue Cross, LVHN and other organizations often purchase them in bulk and distribute them to elected officials and other dignitaries. At Musikfest this year, I encourage everyone to take a closer look at the VIP section of every headliner event. You are likely to recognize some of the faces.
ReplyDeleteSide windows at the cultural center, facing Third Street, are in binary code spelling out "Art for All."
ReplyDeleteLike 99.87% of the people that drive by there will have any idea what that means let alone will they care.
2:52, you sound like a very unhappy person. I also think you are wrong and that something as simple as a window can look good from the outside as well as the inside.
ReplyDeleteThat is a picture of #2 Machine shop. I worked there.
ReplyDelete