Convention Center Envisioned as Sands Neighbor

Bethlehem and Northampton County officials plan to hire a consultant to study the feasibility of building a large convention center next door to Sands and SteelStacks.

  Bethlehem and Northampton County officials are hoping to bring a convention center – perhaps one as large as 3½ NFL football fields – as a new neighbor for the Sands Casino Resort complex and the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. County and city officials announced Thursday that they will hire a consultant to conduct an analysis to determine the appropriate size and configuration of a center, the proper placement of such a facility on the former Bethlehem Steel site and the financial feasibility of the project. There seems to be little doubt about the answer the third part of the analysis will yield. “We believe there is a market for a major exposition and convention facility in the Lehigh Valley and we believe we have the perfect …

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What Goes Here?

City Looks for New Purpose for Bethlehem Armory

Bethlehem will lease historic armory from state while a study is conducted to determine the best way to reuse the property at Prospect and Second avenues.

  Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan on Tuesday announced that the city plans to lease the Bethlehem Armory and lead an effort to find an adaptive reuse for the building. The brick armory at 301 Prospect Ave., at the corner of Prospect and Second avenues, was built in 1930 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and, until very recently had been the home of at least one Pennsylvania National Guard unit. The last remaining guardsmen who called the armory home were relocated to the new Easton Readiness Center in Forks Township in the last several years. The Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority, which will lease the building from the state for $1 a year, will commission a …

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