BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Art, culture and educational nonprofit ArtsQuest shared more Tuesday on what’s to come for its new "Cultural Center" to replace the current Banana Factory on West Third Street in South Bethlehem.
Officials say that ever since the former banana distribution warehouse at 25 W. Third St. turned to an art and education center in 1998, it’s been a hit with the community.
But more than 25 years later, it's time to expand, they said. And with that expansion in space would come more opportunities and experiences for artists and community members.
ArtsQuest leadership on Tuesday said demolishing the Banana Factory and starting from scratch at the same site is the most cost-effective option to continue to provide its range of public offerings.
The incoming Cultural Center would cost an estimated $23 million.
If all goes to plan, the Banana Factory's demolition is set for early in the first quarter of 2025, with the new project's groundbreaking taking place later in the same quarter. A "tentative" completion is currently set for the second quarter of 2026.
Construction is expected to take 12-14 months, officials said.
Bethlehem Planning Commission approved project development plans for the new facility back in July.
'We are out of space'
ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert said her team has been hard at work evaluating potential gaps in programming, an array of public feedback and current space constraints among the current art center’s six buildings.
“When you look at our summer camps, when you look at the glass studio, when you look at the waiting list for the artists — we are out of space,” Hilgert said.
Up-to-date plans shared Tuesday feature a five-story, 73,500-square-foot main building, with an abutting one-story, 5,500-square-foot glass studio.
Those renderings also show some lawn area with surrounding walls.
“When you look at our summer camps, when you look at the glass studio, when you look at the waiting list for the artists — we are out of space."ArtsQuest CEO Kassie Hilgert
In total, officials are calling for about a 30% increase in space compared with the current facility.
Hilgert said fundraising is underway and more than $17 million has been gathered.
A slideshow Tuesday listed funding sources as the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, appropriation funding from Sen. Bob Casey's office, host fees from the local casino, as well as individual and corporate donations.
The name's a work in progress
Many of the incoming programs are planned to be centered around the visual arts, but Hilgert said it will be a great opportunity to broaden the campus’ horizons.
She said a key goal with the new facility is flexibility, which could involve potentially using it as a new venue for Musikfest or Christkindlmarkt, for example.
“If you look at this community and how it’s changing and evolving, we want to attract and bring in people from all different parts of the community,” Hilgert said.
“A ‘cultural center’ gives you a lot of flexibility to do all kinds of programming.”
Officials have yet to decide on an official name for the facility. Hilgert said they’d be looking to have the community be involved in that decision process somehow.
'An active cultural center environment'
Lisa Harms, ArtsQuest senior director of visual arts and education, said Banana Factory’s programs have grown more than 125% over the past five years.
And $1.4 million in deferred maintenance costs could hinder ArtsQuest from providing its free and reduced-cost offerings.
“ArtsQuest has completed several feasibility studies that investigated options to modernize the Banana Factory and have determined that the most feasible option for the benefit of the community is the replacement of the buildings with a new facility,” the slideshow read.
The building’s Third Street frontage is planned to feature big windows for the public to see in and witness an “active cultural center environment.”
The site would offer multiple entrances to the building’s gallery spaces, theater spaces and a bar area to increase pedestrian traffic.
The first floor is set to include the following:
- Various gallery spaces
- Gallery prep area
- Lobby with a central information desk and retail space for artists to sell their work
- Glass studio
- Wood shop
- Metalworking space
- Bar area and small kitchen area
- Comedy theater
“If you look at this community and how it’s changing and evolving, we want to attract and bring in people from all different parts of the community. A ‘cultural center’ gives you a lot of flexibility to do all kinds of programming.”ArtsQuest CEO Kassie Hilgert
Officials said the second, third and fourth floors are all similar, with some offering early education and flex classroom spaces, artist studios, shared gallery “collaboration” spaces, more gallery space, volunteer center, doubling of the current sensory space footprint, quiet area and kiln room.
Under a partnership with Bethlehem Area School District, the facility’s third floor will offer a digital production lab and recording studio space for students.
That floor also is set to have an expanded ceramics footprint.
The fourth floor would offer printmaking, fiber arts and jewelry classrooms, artist studios, another gallery lounge, a dark room, a spray booth (one there and one on another floor), a washer-dryer room and office space.
The rooftop deck will be activated for hospitality events and feature a view of the SteelStacks nearby, Harms said.
She said a number of partnerships are in the works to help give current artists the space they need in between the building coming down and the new one going up.
Expanded offerings, some free
ArtsQuest Education Coordinator Joanne Garcia provided an idea of the year-round proposed programming for the new facility.
It would include: creative family workshops, healing art and music, glasswork, comedy, outdoor painting, public art, field trips and more.
Some of the offerings are free, and if in need, there’s tuition assistance available.
Students and teachers can take part in free after-school art programming, an Early Childhood Learning Center, an Art Educator Lab and a black box theater for field trips.
The new facility would be able to provide room for 36 artists instead of the current 28, offering 20% more artist studios at a subsidized rate “well below market value,” according to the ArtsQuest slideshow.
For those with sensory needs, the new facility will feature a broader sensory room footprint among two dedicated spaces.
The new facility’s construction is estimated to include 489 direct and indirect jobs and bring with it a $46 million economic impact annually.
When it opens, direct and indirect jobs would total 112, and feature a $13.4 million economic impact annually.
