- Bethlehem's Walnut Street Garage will be torn down, following a City Council vote Tuesday
- The project schedule lists a demo start date of January 2024 and the new garage going up beginning in June
- Bethlehem Parking Authority will hold a parking displacement meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at 45 W. North St.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The nearly 50-year-old garage at 33 W. Walnut St. in North Bethlehem is officially set to come down in January, if plans continue on schedule.
Bethlehem City Council voted 3-2 on Tuesday, approving a certificate of appropriateness surrounding the demolition of the garage.
Council comments
Council President Michael Colón said modern construction practices should leave the city with a garage that would last.
“As I voted for other COAs in the number of years I’ve been on council now, I will be keeping my vote to the scope of what’s before us and supporting the demolition to knock down the parking garage that, I would say, it’s come to the end of its useful life,” Colón said.
Councilwoman Paige Van Wirt said she'd be abstaining from the vote, as she lives at a property near the garage.
Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek was absent.
Councilwoman Grace Grampsie Smith said that while she wasn’t against the demolition, the discussion should be referred to council’s Public Safety Committee, as there were too many remaining factors to be discussed.
“Surely waiting one or two more weeks is not going to make a difference."Bethlehem City Council member Wandalyn Enix, saying council should hold its vote after more discussion
Smith mentioned use of the proposed development alongside the new garage, the potential for a UNESCO World Heritage designation in North Bethlehem and its impact on parking needs, as well as the affect on walkability in the area.
She later made a motion to push the discussion to the public safety committee, with a second from Councilwoman Wandalyn Enix.
Enix said having a committee discussion as well as attending a meeting on parking displacement 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11 at Hyatt Place Bethlehem, 45 W. North St., would give everyone a better understanding.
“Surely waiting one or two more weeks is not going to make a difference,” Enix said.
Councilwoman Rachel Leon said moving it to the public safety committee wouldn’t be appropriate, as the COA at hand is historic in nature.
“I did feel unsafe. I did have strange liquids dripping onto my car and bits of garage. It’s dark, it’s dank. As far as accessibility goes, it did not feel user-friendly in that regard.”Bethlehem City Council member Kiera Wilhem, on her experience using the Walnut Street Garage
Councilwoman Kiera Wilhelm said that at one point she was parking in the Walnut Street Garage every day for two years. She said it’s time for an upgrade if presented with a good opportunity.
“I did feel unsafe,” Wilhelm said. “I did have strange liquids dripping onto my car and bits of garage.
“It’s dark, it’s dank. As far as accessibility goes, it did not feel user-friendly in that regard.”
That motion to move the topic to committee later failed 3-2, with Colón, Wilhem and Leon dissenting and Van Wirt abstaining.
Background on the garage
The city’s Historical and Architectural Review Board first reviewed a proposal to demolish the garage back in August.
At that meeting, board members ultimately put the project on hold following a number of residents and business owners sharing concerns about potential effects on nearby historic properties and more.
Bethlehem Parking Authority Executive Director Steven Fernstrom has said that putting up a new garage with a 60- to 80-year lifespan would end up costing about the same as maintaining the current, deteriorating garage that’s on its last leg before the 50-year mark.
And making the new garage smaller — offering fewer than 600 spaces as opposed to the more than 700 now on site — would increase walkability and liveliness to that area of North Bethlehem, Fernstrom said.
It also would provide flexibility for a proposed development on the western end of the lot, he said. He said the Walnut Street Garage is currently at 30-40% capacity.
Displacement will be further discussed at a meeting to take place at Hyatt Place Bethlehem, 45 W. North St., on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m.Bethlehem Parking Authority
According to quarterly assessments, the garage is suffering from spalling concrete ceilings, rusted steel connections, broken tieback connections, cracked welds and even areas completely blocked off from use because of safety concerns.
Fernstrom has said that he’ll continue meeting with and addressing the needs of residents in nearby historic homes, even implementing vibration monitoring, dust monitoring and other precautions during demolition.
The garage sits just to the east of the Main Street stretch of the city, offering commuters, residents and visitors a central location to park.
With it now set to come down, BPA officials have said that displaced parkers could potentially use lots at North, Broad, Lehigh and Spring streets, and maybe even the Old York Road Lot.
Comments from the public
North Side resident Jim Follweiler, a Republican candidate in the November city council election, said having a clear idea of the designs for the incoming garage and development on the property’s western end should go along with a solid demolition plan.
BPA officials have said that the public would be able to participate in a dialogue soon regarding the new garage designs and more.
“There is really no room in this project for true dialogue or timely and deliberate analysis,” Follweiler said. “What happened to open and fair processes?”
Resident Marsha Fritz, a former member of the Historical Architectural and Review Board, said she found the whole process “highly unusual,” and council should vote to table the matter.
“There is really no room in this project for true dialogue or timely and deliberate analysis. What happened to open and fair processes?”Jim Follweiler, Bethlehem resident and city council potential
Dan Nigito, who lives near the garage and works even closer to it on West Market Street, said he has no problem with the parking authority or with the garage coming down if safety is at stake.
But he said there seems to be “an absolute abandonment of common sense” surrounding the timeline of the garage project.
“How in the world can you approve a demolition of one of the largest and most centrally located parking garages in the city before you have approved plans to rebuild it?” Nigito said.
Shelley Brown, Dan Nigito’s wife and chief executive officer of the State Theatre in Easton, said that even for people coming to visit the theatre, the most common question she gets surrounds available parking.
She said in Bethlehem there just aren’t enough parking spots to go around.
“I do not understand demolishing a parking garage and building a smaller one in 2023,” Brown said. “I don’t get it.”
“I do not understand demolishing a parking garage and building a smaller one in 2023. I just don't get it."Shelley Nigito, Bethlehem resident
Lucy Lennon, realtor with Morganelli Properties in Bethlehem, asked that from the perspective of a resident and business person, for council to table the proposal.
“I wouldn’t sell a property and tell people, ‘OK, you’re going to tear it down, then go down to Zoning,’” Lennon said.
Joanne Smida, owner of Hand Cut Crystal and Bethlehem Christmas Shoppe on Main Street, said the area surrounding her business in a busy part of the North Side always has people looking for parking.
She said the project potentially affecting the Christmas season shoppers had her concerned.
“I wouldn’t sell a property and tell people, ‘Okay, you’re going to tear it down, then go down to Zoning.’”Lucy Lennon, Bethlehem realtor
Martin Romeril, who resides near the garage, said the entire project was “based on greed and not need,” and is “grossly inadequate” for current parking needs.
“It does not have enough parking spaces for future visitors to the city should we get the historic designation from UNESCO,” Romeril said.
He said he didn’t understand why council would vote on this before at least attending the parking displacement meeting set for next week.
Romeril added he felt council members are being pushed around by the current administration to vote a certain way on matters such as this.
During Wilhelm’s comments later in the meeting, she said nobody on council was being “strong-armed,” and all were being sure to practice “due diligence” on the topic at hand.
Certificates of appropriateness
City council solicitor Brian Panella clarified details surrounding the certificate of appropriateness being voted upon by council.
The Historical Architectural and Review Board ultimately has to review the same types of parameters when voting upon a COA, he said.
Those include the potential effect on the historic and architectural nature of the district, appropriateness of architectural features and even whether or not the new development will match the designs of surrounding properties.
“Regardless of when the garage comes down — tomorrow, next year, whenever it happens — whatever goes up in its place is also going to require additional COAs as it goes up because this [tonight] is just for the deconstruction and demolition of the pre-existing building.”Bethlehem City Council solicitor Brian Panella
But the rest of the construction process will have many additional steps and many COAs, Panella said.
“Regardless of when the garage comes down — tomorrow, next year, whenever it happens — whatever goes up in its place is also going to require additional COAs as it goes up because this [tonight] is just for the deconstruction and demolition of the pre-existing building,” Panella said.
'What's the rush?'
BPA Director Fernstrom said there’s still a ways to go on the project, and he wants the public’s input in the meantime.
“This process begins with us taking down the structure,” Fernstrom said. “We look forward to moving past this phase to design meetings, where we can all collaborate incorporating historical elements into a new structure.”
“Our plan is to take down this garage in January. Following this schedule allows us to minimize this disruption to the downtown; the downtown would only be impacted by one holiday season if we were to follow this schedule.”Bethlehem Parking Authority Executive Director Steven Fernstrom
A prominent question from residents: "What’s the rush?" Fernstrom said the implemented scheduling is to keep from delaying the process any longer, especially when the city gets busy at Christmastime.
“Our plan is to take down this garage in January,” Fernstrom said. “Following this schedule allows us to minimize this disruption to the downtown; the downtown would only be impacted by one holiday season if we were to follow this schedule.”
