Tours

The Rise And Fall Of Bethlehem Steel-Walking Tour (Film and Tour)

Purchase a light lunch or snack from the Mike & Ike Bistro to enjoy during your film. Take your food and drink with you into the cinema as you watch the 30 minute Bethlehem: The Christmas City narrated by Liberty graduate Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation). Afterwords, you will depart on a walking tour of Bethlehem Steel.

Location: Film (12:300pm) Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema; Tour (1:15pm) leaves from the SteelStacks Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 18015

Parking and Directions

$15.50 for adult (13+); $9.50 for ages 7-12; Free for 6 & under

Dates & Times:

• Saturdays & Sundays, 1/5-3/31
• Movie starts: 12:30pm
• Tour starts: 1:15pm

SteelStacks Art & Architecture Walking Tour

Every Friday-Sunday, 11am.

Learn all about the rich architectural history and public art that adorn the SteelStacks arts and cultural campus on these new walking tours presented by Historic Bethlehem Museum and Sites and ArtsQuest.

On the Art and Architecture Tour, you'll discover 150 years of American architecture on the site, once the home to the Bethlehem Steel plant that helped build the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, U.S. war ships for the two World Wars and much of the Manhattan skyline. Included on the 75-minute tour are examples of significant buildings erected as far back as the 1860s. Tours touch on the history of the site, but the main focus is on how the architecture of the steel mills evolved over time.

Art and Architecture Tours begin at one of the earliest buildings on the former steel plant, the 1863 Stock House, now the oldest building remaining on the site. Made of stone and brick, the Stock House was initially used to store raw materials for the iron making process. Today, it has been fully restored and serves as a Visitor Center for the City of Bethlehem.

Participants also visit the remains of the former Bessemer Rail Rolling Mill, a state-of-the-art facility when it opened in 1873 and the first fully integrated steel mill in the United States; the Turn and Grind Shop; and the Commercial-Style Steel General Offices. The tours also stop at the Levitt Pavilion, a 21st-century outdoor music pavilion created by Wallace Roberts and Todd, as well as the ArtsQuest Center, a contemporary performing arts center designed by Spillman Farmer Architects.

During the tours, visitors learn how Bethlehem Steel became a major producer of structural steel in the early 20th century including its patented wide flange beam, the I Beam, which played a prominent role in constructing many of New York City's towering skyscrapers.

The tour also highlight the five public sculptures at SteelStacks. The art pieces include "The Bridge, a 70-foot-long steel and fire arc by Elena Colombo; "The Four Elements," a 40-foot-tall glass sculpture that features 900 pieces of handcrafted glass; and "Transformation," a neon installation by renowned artist Stephen Antonakos.

Art and Architecture Tours tickets are $12; advance purchase is recommended. Tours depart from the Visitor Center at SteelStacks, 711 E. First St., Bethlehem. For more information, visit or www.historicbethlehem.org or call 1-800-360-TOUR.