Bethlehem, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell was among the guests at the groundbreaking for the new ArtsQuest Center for Performing Arts at SteelStacks on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009, at First Street and Founders Way in Bethlehem, directly across from the iconic Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces.
The SteelStacks project was announced in November 2005. The first major public commitment to the project was made by Gov. Rendell on Dec. 18, 2006, through a $5 million commitment of Pennsylvania Revitalization Assistance Capital Program funding. Additional allocations by both the governor and legislative delegations have resulted in a total of $12 million in state funding being dedicated to two of the projects on the SteelStacks campus, one of which is the ArtsQuest Center for Performing Arts.
ArtsQuest’s performing arts center will include a two-screen art cinema; the Musikfest Café, a 600-seat venue for live music with a magnificent view of the blast furnaces; the Blast Furnace Room community room and the Creativity Commons, which will offer light entertainment, food-and-beverage service, and will host community gatherings.
The City of Bethlehem will participate in the performing arts center project and all of SteelStacks by developing three public plazas, including the Town Square in front of the Center for Performing Arts; SteelStacks Plaza, which will include a music pavilion for outdoor entertainment; and Festival Plaza, which will host outdoor festivals and events. The city will also develop a new visitors’ center in the former Bethlehem Steel Stockhouse building.
The Center for Performing Arts, new Bethlehem Visitors’ Center, all three plazas, and music pavilion are slated to open in May 2011. For more information on SteelStacks, visit www.steelstacks.org.
