BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Sunday's conclusion of Christkindlmarkt holiday market with another year of record attendance again drove home a point to the nonprofit ArtsQuest, which presents it.
ArtsQuest is running out of room on the SteelStacks campus.
“If you’re down here on a Saturday at Christkindlmarkt, we can get 14,000 people through there and it’s like going to see the Rockefeller Center [Christmas] tree," ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert said.
"You’re shoulder-to-shoulder as you shop through there. So expanding that is a critical goal for us."
“One, we were running out of space on the campus for some programming. And that’s a good thing, but we needed some expansion of that."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
That's the idea behind ArtsQuest's plans to revitalize Bethlehem Steel’s massive Turn and Grind Shop on the SteelStacks campus as a programming, exhibit and festival venue that could open as soon as 2027.
ArtsQuest in November at a gala news conference announced a renewed push to renovate the 26,000-square-foot brick structure, with Lehigh Valley Health Network as its title sponsor.
Hilgert said that when ArtsQuest announced its Re-Imagine That! campaign in 2019 — primarily to fund a new Banana Factory cultural center in south Bethlehem — "even back then we were realizing a couple of things."
“One, we were running out of space on the campus for some programming," she said. "And that’s a good thing, but we needed some expansion of that.
"And also our big three [festivals] — Oktoberfest, Musikfest and Christkindlmarkt."
Expanding ArtsQuest's festivals
A primary use of the Turn and Grind building would be for expansion of those festivals, Hilgert said.
"Oktoberfest — that would be the best beer hall in the Valley," she said.
"Oktoberfest, which has been around since 2011, continues to grow. So being able to add, of course, a covered element is always a great thing for us anytime we can."
"And then it offers us additional space, about 14,000 square feet of blank, open space in the building that we could use at Musikfest."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
For Musikfest each year, ArtsQuest spends "six figures" to "build significant infrastructure for the backstage" of the festival's main Steel Stage, which is erected adjacent to the Turn and Grind building, Hilgert said.
"We build an entire kitchen, right, to service the Steel Terrace [VIP seating area] and the artists. We don’t have showers back there, we have to bring in trailers.
“So the Turn and Grind will have a large kitchen. It will have green rooms with showers.
"And then it offers us additional space, about 14,000 square feet of blank, open space in the building that we could use at Musikfest.
"Haven’t determined what that’s going to be — is it going to be a small venue for musicians, is it going to be for other interactions? That’s still up in the air, but it's critical space."
But in every case, use of the Turn and Grind for ArtsQuest festivals would be additional space — not simply to move an existing stage or event there, Hilgert said.
Year-round uses
But Hilgert also said the Turn and Grind building would have uses year-round.
“Another big deal for us is we want to put some new visual arts programming in there," Hilgert said. "So for the first quarter of each year, we’re looking at the traveling exhibits that could go in there.
"The private events are so critical to us; help us fund our mission for free programming."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
"We could reach out to school districts here in the Valley. We’re already working with four counties in Northeast PA and reaching out to the community at large."
From April to July, another big space challenge for ArtsQuest is use of its 1,000-capacity Musikfest Cafe, Hilgert said.
"There is the balance between programming and private events," she said. “Where you’ve got proms, you’ve got the fundraising galas, you’ve got all kinds of private events.
"The private events are so critical to us; help us fund our mission for free programming. But that means we’re not doing a concert in there.
"Now we can do an add — we can put some of those private events over in the Turn and Grind, and now we can do more concerts and our true programming mission in the cafe.”
Exhibits, education and more
Also during the off-season of festivals, another use of the Turn and Grind building would be using its proposed 14,000-square-foot public programming space for arts exhibitions, educational activities and even dance programs.
"What we’re trying to do is bring cultural amenities to the Valley that you’d have to travel somewhere else to go see," Hilgert said.
"There’s really no end to what we could see doing in there. So we see a January-March run of being able to put something in there.”ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
“So let’s say the Vietnam War Memorial could be in there. You could imagine the school programming, community programming we could do around that.
"We’ve got Martin Guitar in our backyard and the evolution of Martin Guitars. There’s really no end to what we could see doing in there.
"So we see a January-March run of being able to put something in there.”
But the space would limit the scope of dance performances, Hilgert said.
“I’m not sure that’s going to be big enough for what you need in a stage setting. We’re not looking to do theatrical productions. I think any dance would be experimental.
"I don’t see this as something you would think of seeing in the State Theatre or the [Miller] Symphony [Hall in Allentown]. We don’t have a stage big enough for that.
"So that’s not an area we’re looking to go into.”
Not a concert venue, but ...
A big focus for ArtsQuest is always concerts.
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.
ArtsQuest then 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.
"We’ve got the cafe, we’ve got the Highmark stage [outside ArtsQuest Center], we’ve got the indoor pavilion stage, we’ve got the main stage at Musikfest, we have Levitt [Pavilion SteelStacks]. We’re not sure that we need another stage here."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
Hilgert now said the Turn and Grind building's "primary purpose is not to be a music hall. We’re not doing the full soundproofing acoustical treatment for that.
“We talked a lot among staff and with our board about that," she said. "I think what we came down to is we’re blessed with having a lot of spaces right now.
"We’ve got the cafe, we’ve got the Highmark stage [outside ArtsQuest Center], we’ve got the indoor pavilion stage, we’ve got the main stage at Musikfest, we have Levitt [Pavilion SteelStacks]. We’re not sure that we need another stage here.
“Where I would see using that is those few times — you know how sometimes we’ll have a Levitt show, it’s going to rain, so we pop into the café for the show.
"If we’ve got a gated Levitt show or an outside Levitt and something’s happening, I could see putting it in there.
"We will do things to allow for amplification and if people want music at a private event or we want at Oktoberfest to have a band in there.
“But it is not meant to be ‘Here are the series of concerts.’ That is not the first, second or third use of that building.”
Entire new construction inside
Whatever the Turn and Grind building becomes, it's clear a lot of work needs to be done.
ArtsQuest acquired the building in 2019, and since then has used it for storage — and a recent tour showed that's still what it's being used for.
The tour also showed that the building is essentially a shell — brick-and-steel walls with virtually no inside infrastructure, meaning whatever it becomes will essentially be an entirely new construction inside it.
"We want to maintain all of that, so you know you’re walking into a Steel building when it’s all done.”ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
“Well, it’s funny because we have a Banana Factory in the historic district that we had to get approval to tear down," Hilgert said, referring to ArtsQuest's plan to replace the Banana Factory arts center on Third Street in South Bethlehem.
"And now we’re going to maintain a 150-year-old Turn and Grind that is not in the historic district.
“But 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.
"So we are just beginning work — as a matter of fact, I just sat down for hours with the construction manager and architects to look at it.
“It clearly needs a roof. We’ve got major window issues. But what we’re looking at is shoring up.
“Right now we’re starting site surveys, we’re starting environmental surveys. We’re looking at the scope of this to rehab it.
"We want to keep it authentic inside. There’s a gorgeous crane runway which we want to keep. There’s a beautiful rosette window that we want to keep.
"You can see exposed steel inside the building and we want to maintain all of that, so you know you’re walking into a Steel building when it’s all done.”
