BETHLEHEM, Pa. — As part of a campaign to raise money for its new cultural center and adjacent mixed use building, ArtsQuest held a grand reopening soiree Monday.
The event took place in the newly renovated first floor of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.
Attendees got a sneak peek of renderings of the new cultural center and the Turn & Grind Shop, a multi-use space formerly owned by Bethlehem Steel.
- ArtsQuest revealed additional renderings for its cultural center and mixed-use building
- Crayola has pledged a significant donation, letting the two organizations partner for 10 years
- The Turn & Grind Shop will allow for more space for ArtsQuest's Musikfest and Oktoberfest festivals, along with high school proms and educational arts and science exhibits
Construction plans are in the early stages for the Turn & Grind Shop, which ArtsQuest now uses for storage.
"This building is so important for so many reasons," ArtsQuest President Kassie Hilgert said. "Our 2024 calendar right now is just about done. We have no more dates available [to rent] and we need to expand. This building can serve a number of functions for us."
Some of the uses intended in the new 26,000-foot space include holding artistic and educational installations and private events such as high school proms and corporate shindigs.
It will also lend a hand to SteelStack's annual festivals such as Musikfest, Oktoberfest and Christkindlmarkt.
"When June and July come around and the magical time for Musikfest," Hilgert said. "Right now we are building backstage infrastructure for the main stage and that costs over six figures every year.
"We have to build a kitchen for the artists. We do not have showers for the main stage. To be able to have those things would be fantastic."
Construction for the mixed-used building is expected to cost $14 million.
Increasing revenue
Hilgert said ArtsQuest made the decision to renovate the first floor of ArtsQuest Center to increase revenue and provide more amenities for festival-goers visiting SteelStacks.
The first floor revamp, completed in 2020, includes the new Palette and Pour Restaurant, a full-service bar and lounge-style seating for 118.
Additionally, the Williams-Brew stage offers a space for open mic nights and smaller concerts.
"When we opened SteelStacks, a big deal for us was to diversify how we raise money," Hilgert said. "We've got donors, sponsors, members and then there's food and beverage.
"The first floor when we first opened wasn't big enough. We did not have a full-size kitchen or a normal seating area. In redoing the first floor, we've seen a 60 percent increase in sales and we've seen the average price a person spends here per person increase by 35 percent.
"That is very important revenue to be able to support all of our programming."
The first floor also includes The Gregg and Cindy Feinberg Welcome Center, Anne and Brad Baum’s Corner, the Mike and Ike Box Office and a space dedicated to the Yee Family that’s being conceptualized into something.
A 'generous gift'
The proposed $22 million arts center would replace the Banana Factory, which opened in 1998.
The planned site, on Northampton Street between Second and Third streets in South Side Bethlehem, will feature a new, semi-detached five-story, 73,485-square-foot building connected to a one-story structure.
Renderings show an outdoor arts plaza, expanded classroom space with wide-open glass windows and a 100-seat comedy and arts center.
It also will be a green project.
At Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's Comprehensive Planning Committee meeting in April, developers of theproject were instructed to use environmentally friendly materials in the construction. ''
"We need to build a new cultural center that represents the changing community that we live in. The South Side of Bethlehem, while there is a lot of development, is still on the low-income census track. We need to provide an opportunity in a cultural center where every single person feels they are valued and represented when they walk into that building."Kassie Hilgert, president ArtsQuest
Crayola has pledged a "generous" donation to ArtsQuest toward the multi-million dollar project.
Although the monetary amount was not disclosed on Monday, a spokesperson for the company said it would let Crayola and ArtsQuest team up for the next 10 years.
Inspiring youth
Orville Trout, senior vice president of human resources at Crayola, said the cultural center will house community programs for children, such as summer camps and visual arts programming.
"I think this is an opportunity to create a venue that is modern and one that will have all the amenities that is necessary for the youth within the South Side particularly, Trout said.
"And to give them access to resources that will allow them to expand and grow from a creative standpoint."
Hilgert said it will be a space for people from all walks of life — with a heavy focus on promoting visual arts in the Valley.
"We need to build a new cultural center that represents the changing community that we live in," she said. "The South Side of Bethlehem, while there is a lot of development, is still on the low-income census track.
"We need to provide an opportunity in a cultural center where every single person feels they are valued and represented when they walk into that building.
"We will focus on the visual arts in the building. We want to take the visual arts to the level that we've taken performing arts — where you can be an artist that starts out to perform Williams-Brew stage with 20 people or you can be on the Wind Creek Steel Stage with in front of 3600 people. The visual arts has the same capacity here."
