Bethlehem Reclaims its Industrial Heritage
Rather than turn its back of the remnants of the industry that made and unmade this quintessential steel town, Bethlehem is rethinking its identity with the abandoned steel plant turned cultural magnet as its centerpiece, writes Tom Stoelker.
According to Stoelker, the city's shuttered plant, which once provided the steel for the construction of Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge, now serves as a "mountainous backdrop" for an amphitheater and town plaza.
"Bethlehem kept its silenced furnaces as both conduit to a shared past and a backdrop for contemporary culture. With the completion of a new band shell called the Levitt Pavilion and a redesigned streetscape, both by Philadelphia-based WRT, the city has an arts attraction and town plaza so close to the plant, one can almost touch the preserved stacks."
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Published on Thursday, June 7, 2012 in
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