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Smithsonian Artifacts moving to Industrial History Museum in Bethlehem, PA For Immediate Release Public Relations Division WASHINGTON, D.C., February 9, 1999 -- Industrial artifacts from the mid 19th century are in the process of being moved, on a long-term loan basis, from the Smithsonian Institution to the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pa. "We are now readying a Preview Center at Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s former plant in Bethlehem that will temporarily house these exquisite machines for public display beginning later this year," said Stephen G. Donches, president, National Museum of Industrial History, and vice president, public affairs, Bethlehem Steel Corporation. "The Preview Center and the main National Museum of Industrial History are creating excitement in the Lehigh Valley as we move toward establishing one of the nation's premier exhibits of industrial artifacts to celebrate the important role industry has played in building this nation," Mr. Donches said. Also attending the media briefing early this afternoon in Washington were Dr. J. Dennis O'Connor, provost; Dr. Steven Lubar, curator in the division of the history of technology, National Museum of American History, and Michael Carrigan, director, Affiliations Program, both of the Smithsonian Institution. "Two years ago, we announced the formation of the National Museum of Industrial History. Now, after much detailed planning, we are well into the process of moving nearly 100 artifacts to Bethlehem," Dr. O'Connor said. The National Museum of Industrial History is working with the Smithsonian Institution to identify objects that will be loaned as part of the permanent exhibit at the National Museum of Industrial History. In February 1997, the Smithsonian Institution signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bethlehem Steel for the National Museum of Industrial History to become the first participant in the Smithsonian’s Affiliations Program. Through this program, portions of the Smithsonian’s collections are loaned to community-based museums. The artifacts, which until recently were on exhibit in the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building, will be exhibited in the Preview Center for the National Museum of Industrial History until construction of the main museum is completed in 2002. The permanent museum will be created in an historic, 300,000-square-foot machine shop built in the early 1880s and located in Bethlehem Steel's former Bethlehem plant. Bethlehem Steel, and its wholly owned subsidiary Bethlehem Development Corporation, is working with Enterprise Development Company, Columbia, Md., to redevelop 1,800 acres of land at the site of the former Bethlehem Steel plant. At one edge of the plant is a 163-acre brownfield tract, named Bethlehem Works, that is becoming a mixed-use site for recreation, entertainment and cultural attractions, including the National Museum of Industrial History. The remaining 1,600 acres, named Bethlehem Commerce Center, will contain a rail intermodal facility used by Norfolk Southern Railroad as well as other distribution, transportation, light industrial and office uses. "Working through a public/private partnership, we are creating a museum that will anchor a vibrant development project, perhaps the largest brownfield development site in the entire nation," said Mr. Donches. |