BETHLEHEM, Pa. — ArtsQuest at a gala news conference in November announced a renewed push to renovate Bethlehem Steel’s massive Turn and Grind Shop into a programming, exhibit and festival venue.
Six months later, on Thursday, that idea moved a step closer to reality, as ArtsQuest and public officials gathered for a ceremonial "brick-breaking" to mark the start of construction.
"It's another bold step forward for South Bethlehem, ArtsQuest and SteelStacks."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Curt Mosel
"It's another bold step forward for South Bethlehem, ArtsQuest and SteelStacks," ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Curt Mosel said of plans for the 26,000-square-foot brick structure.
Officials have said the venue could open as soon as 2027.
Thursday's ceremony came just a week after a media tour of another ArtsQuest project — the new 80,000-square-foot, $32 million Creative Factory less than a mile away on Bethlehem's Third Street.
Mosel called the Turn and Grind project "another chapter in the evolution of this entertainment campus."
ArtsQuest Chief Executive Office Kassie Hilgert said that when finished, the 155-year-old building will be a "multi-purpose venue for the community" where "arts, culture and creativity converge."
It will be able to hold weddings, corporate events and will be a venue for ArtsQuest's many festivals — including Oktoberfest, when it will be "the best bier garten in the Lehigh Valley," Hilgert said.
It will be "an investment in the future of this community ... for generations to come," she said, and will "demonstrate what is possible when a community chooses investment."
"It's part of the continued evolution of the SteelStacks story."
Artist space and open for events
When ArtsQuest’s plans for SteelStacks were unveiled in 2007, the Turn and Grind Shop was to have been the second phase of the arts campus’ development.
At that time, ArtsQuest envisioned a 30,000-square-foot concert/exhibit venue with a 3,000-seat capacity.
But by 2008, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, now Wind Creek Bethlehem, was developing its 50,000-square-foot multipurpose event center that could hold concerts for 3,700 just down the street.
ArtsQuest still acquired the Turn and Grind building in 2019, seeing a coming crunch for space for some programming on the campus.
Since then, it has used the building for storage, but on Thursday its interior — while still only a shell — let visitors see what it will become.
"The private events are so critical to us. Help us fund our mission for free programming."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
A significant part of the building will become "green rooms" for talent performing at SteelStacks.
For Musikfest each year, ArtsQuest spends six figures to build significant infrastructure backstage of the festival's main Steel Stage, which is erected adjacent to the Turn and Grind building.
That includes a kitchen to service the Steel Terrace VIP seating area and the artists, and trailers with showers.
So the Turn and Grind will have a large kitchen and space with showers.
That would leave 14,000 square feet of blank, open space in the building that could be used for public programming, arts exhibitions, educational activities and those private events.
"The private events are so critical to us," Hilgert said previously. "Help us fund our mission for free programming."
Another significant use of the building would be additional space for its largest festivals — Oktoberfest, Musikfest and Christkindlmarkt.
Oktoberfest has consistently grown since its 2011 start and adding a covered space would help — especially for the bier garten, Hilgert has said.
Hilgert has said she also can envision Turn and Grind becoming an emergency space if a paid-ticket show at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks is threatened by rain, but it will not primarily be a concert venue.
Saving history, 'economic development engine'
While the building has been stripped to essentially a shell, officials said Thursday the new design will incorporate as many of the Turn and Grind building's historic features
State Sen. Lisa Boscola, speaking at Thursday's event, marveled at the appearance of the original steelwork inside the structure.
"We think part of the beauty of that building is that it’s been there 150 years. We know the importance of Bethlehem Steel to the country."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
"They're original beams — they're solid," and only black paint separated them from their original state, she said.
Hilgert said previously that "we want to maintain all of that, so you know you’re walking into a Steel building when it’s all done.”
“We think part of the beauty of that building is that it’s been there 150 years," she said. "We know the importance of Bethlehem Steel to the country."
Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski also noted how, "rather than blight," the building and others at SteelStacks "now is the vibrant heart of Bethlehem."
Gregg Feinberg, co-chair of ArtsQuest's Re-Imagine That! campaign that will help fund the renovation, as well as build the Creative Factory said ArtsQuest "is an economic development engine for our community."
Boscola said there are "not enough superlatives to express what ArtsQuest represents."
"It's a place where big ideas come to fruition," she said. "Jobs for our residents, classrooms for our kids. ... The next generation can thrive without leaving the Lehigh Valley."
