WRT has been selected to lead the design of the 21st Century Town Square, a public and private venture in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that aims to showcase the blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel foundry as part of a unique cultural and entertainment campus.
As stated in the Request for Proposals for the project, "The scale and magnificence of its buildings, capped as they are by the iconic blast furnaces, have tempted people with visions of revitalizing their gritty strength into something new." WRT's work, focused on the project's public space, will provide the unifying framework for new building programs, such as a Broadcast and Performing Arts Center, Visitor Center, Festival Center, and Music Park. The public space will also serve as a "town square" for the local community, capable of hosting a farmers market, celebrations, and civic events. WRT's proposal envisions a flexible foreground landscape that respects the historic resources, is easily adaptable, and provides everyday attractions like interpretive and interactive displays. The parks and plazas will include an outdoor stage supported by the Levitt Foundation for the Performing Arts, seating, lighting, informational/educational features, public art, and play elements.
"This project advances the notion that art and culture are viable programs in the quest to revitalize former industrial sites," said Ignacio Bunster-Ossa, the WRT principal in charge of the project. "The public space will function as an extension of these new programs, bringing to Bethlehem new civic currency in the shadows of the world-famous steel stacks."
The design will also set the design standard for the landscape treatment of future developments in many other areas of the former Steel Works. These standards will tie together the current and future phases of development into a sensible whole that connects the arts areas around the blast furnaces to the eastern end of the site where the Sands Casino Bethlehem now operates. The master plan calls for an extensive reuse of the former Bethlehem Steel buildings in addition to strategic infill of new construction to create a live, work, and play community that begins to integrate parts of the country's largest brownfield site into a sustainable urban fabric uniting south and north Bethlehem.
WRT's consultant team for the project includes Artefact Architecture, L'Observatoire International Lighting, artist Ned Kahn, HDR Engineers, Lehigh Valley Engineering, Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., and Klein and Hoffman, Inc.
