BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The city Historical Architectural Review Board disapproves of a proposal to add three stories and 27 apartments to the former Woolworth building on Main Street.
A board majority was concerned, among other reasons, with how the two new additions housing the apartments on top and off the rear of the building would affect the Main Street skyline.
The vote last week to deny the project was 3-1, with city Chief Building Inspector Mike Simonson dissenting. HARB members Rod Young and Nik Nikolov were absent.
"The proposed Woolworth building project would put the entire structure at a similar height as the Main Street Commons building next door at about 47 feet tall. The Woolworth signage would be preserved."Project plans from MKSD Architects
Bethlehem City Council, which next meets on Jan. 21, will have the final vote on whether the project gets a certificate of appropriateness; HARB serves as a recommending body.
Following any hypothetical approval and the adherence of proper protocol from there, the city then would issue a building permit for the project.
The proposed project would put the entire structure at a similar height as the Main Street Commons building next door at about 47 feet tall. The Woolworth sign on the front of the building would be preserved.
The project, as presented, would be allowed by right within the Central Business District — offering 21 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units, ranging from about 700 to 1,178 square feet.
'A detriment'
“That’s such a modification and such a change to the skyline for Main Street, that I think is a detriment,” HARB member Joseph McGavin said. “Not what anybody wants to hear, but that’s what I think with it.”
Simonson said there’s not really a rhythm of specific building shapes or skyline, per se, across the downtown area.
“I mean, there is a mishmash of heights and sizes and widths,” he said.
Chairwoman Connie Postupack moved to deny the project, citing a number of the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Simonson said he felt the panel had changed course from what seemed to be a prior consensus.
“So sometimes you sit back and you digest things a little bit,” Postupack said.
Simonson chimed in, “But I think we need to do a better job of digesting the first time then, because we went through this a bit with the Walnut Street Garage and some other projects.
“If we’re gonna give guidance, and we’re gonna tell people why we’re denying their project — for whatever reason it may be — that we’re very clear that if they correct X, Y and Z that their project is most likely going to be approved.”
“I mean, there is a mishmash of heights and sizes and widths.”Bethlehem Chief Building Inspector Mike Simonson, speaking on the Main Street skyline
The Woolworth building’s owner is Lehigh Valley developer Lou Pektor and Rubel Street II LP by Pektor Holdings I GP DE LLC, though the project was designed and pitched by MKSD Architects. Pektor also owns the Main Street Commons building.
Officials with the project development team said they had now been before HARB twice — the first time being an “informal meeting” with the panel’s historic officer and chairperson. They said the skyline wasn’t mentioned as a key design concern during either meeting.
McGavin said he was never made aware of the “informal meeting.”
As compared to the developer’s proposal on Dec. 4, which was tabled following feedback from the panel regarding initial project outlook, not much beyond aesthetic touches were different this time around.
'A precedent for future developers to copy'
Mary Toulouse, chair of the Mount Airy Neighborhood Association, wrote to HARB that the proposed height of the circa-1920 building with the addition would be “creating a wall of buildings typical of 21st-century construction, which certainly would be a precedent for future developers to copy.” Postupack read Toulouse’s letter into the record.
“An imposing verticality and massing will be realized in the reimagined building from any vantage point along Main Street, and most significantly, as seen in this visual and across the street, standing in front of the Sun Inn,” resident Chris Carson said, referencing what he called an “inaccurate” rendering provided by MKSD.
“I encourage thoughtful investment in our downtown that balances its big-picture interests of its past and its future. The project, as presented, in my opinion, does not meet the mark.”Bethlehem resident Chris Carson
“I encourage thoughtful investment in our downtown that balances its big-picture interests of its past and its future,” Carson said. “The project, as presented, in my opinion, does not meet the mark.”
Marsha Fritz, former HARB member and current resident of Bethlehem, said, “It is a building that should be valued; we’ve lost many of them across the country. … This proposal is threatening the existence of an important historical artifact.
“I urge you to turn it down.”
