BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Around 80% of the lights at SteelStacks’ blast furnaces are up and running again, in what appears to be the first time this summer.
The Bethlehem branch of an electrical company completed the $5,000 job in just a couple of days, ultimately doing it free of charge on the cusp of Musikfest, the city's music and arts festival that starts Thursday night and runs through Aug. 11.
Among just getting the lights operating again, some of the landmark’s lighting fixtures also will need replacing due to vandalism, according to Ryan Quay, vice president with Hatzel & Buehler, the union commercial electrical contractor that completed the job.
Quay said some of the fixtures and controls also needed reprogramming.
“The main issue were circuit breakers opening due to faults with the cabling. Our technicians traced the defective circuits then proceeded with repairing and testing those conductors.”Ryan Quay, vice president with Hatzel & Buehler, speaking on electrical work at SteelStacks' blast furnaces
“The main issue (~80%) were circuit breakers opening due to faults with the cabling,” Quay said in an emailed statement.
“Our technicians traced the defective circuits then proceeded with repairing and testing those conductors.”
All groups involved — landowner Wind Creek, ArtsQuest, the city of Bethlehem — were “determined” to get the lights on in time for the festival, Quay said.
In May, H&B acquired West Side Hammer Electric — the company previously doing electrical work for the casino and even put up the original lighting at the blast furnaces.
With West Side Electric out of business, H&B now operates at the company's former office at 1325 Clay St.
'Make some headway'
Wind Creek owns the blast furnaces and is responsible for the lighting, but until Monday had not responded to multiple inquiries by LehighValleyNews.com about the lack of lighting.
Julia Corwin, director of corporate communications at Wind Creek Hospitality, said in an emailed statement that gauging different ways to get the lights back on has been a months-long process.
“Late last week, we were able to make some headway and get many of the lights functioning,” Corwin said.
“Due to the deteriorated state of the current system, we still have much more work to do, but we are happy to be able to announce that the blast furnaces will be lit for Musikfest.”
“Due to the deteriorated state of the current system, we still have much more work to do, but we are happy to be able to announce that the blast furnaces will be lit for Musikfest.”Julia Corwin, director of corporate communications with Wind Creek Hospitality
After Councilman Bryan Callahan and officials addressed the lack of lighting at a July 2 city council meeting, Callahan said he decided to make some calls in the days following.
Paul Anthony, business manager with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 375, said he connected with Callahan and then with H&B on the project.
“We have a great relationship down there with what was Sands first, and Wind Creek and ArtsQuest,” Anthony said.
Callahan said, “I want to thank Wind Creek and Hatzel & Buehler for working together to solve an issue that’s important to the community.”
'Positive news and progress'
According to ArtsQuest, the host organization of Musikfest headquartered on the SteelStacks campus, there’s been much work happening behind the scenes to get to this point.
“As we have mentioned before, this is a complicated and long process that we have been working on collaboratively for months to find a more permanent solution,” said a statement issued by the nonprofit organization.
“But to have some of the lights back on the blast furnaces is positive news and progress.”
“The partial lighting of the blast furnaces is a positive short-term development while more sustainable solutions are explored."City of Bethlehem
Bethlehem Director of Community and Economic Development Laura Collins provided the following statement on behalf of the city:
“The partial lighting of the blast furnaces is a positive short-term development while more sustainable solutions are explored. We know Wind Creek has been exploring options for relighting the blast furnaces for months, and it's not an easy, technical fix.
"We look forward to seeing the blast furnaces back to being fully lit as soon as a sustainable solution can be found.”
Symbol of the city
The illuminated blast furnaces have come to be a symbol of Bethlehem's resurgence in the decades after the closing of Bethlehem Steel.
The blast furnaces were first lighted in 2009, when the former Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened about a half-mile east of the structures.
A redesigned $300,000 lighting system was unveiled five years later with the redevelopment of the Hoover-Mason Trestle, an elevated walkway that takes visitors within a few feet along the base of the furnaces.
