Brown and White Vol. 128 no. 11

              The Brown and White
Vol. 128 No. 11
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
‘All the Lehigh News First’
Advertisements for technology sales and services cover the front windows of a condemned building on the corner of Fourth and Vine streets. Ripped up floors sit on top of each other like puzzle pieces, and decaying walls suggest that no busi­ness is taking place inside of this decrepit building.
On the surface, this building rep­resents the struggle many local busi­nesses face in the wake of the fallen Bethlehem Steel and recent econom­ic recession. Taking a closer look, this building is significant because it is one of a handful of properties on the South Side owned by local devel­oper Dennis Benner.
Benner has visions to transform the South Side into a vibrant college town that will be inviting to students and young professionals. He plans to build a number of nine-to 13-story high-rises and fill them with modern apartments and trendy businesses, like wine bars. He said he hopes to push out the destructive graffiti art­ists and violent gang members this building attracts and ignite a renais­sance to create a bustling 16-hours-a-day city.
The city is in favor of the building on the corner of Fourth and Vine. At the Nov. 5 meeting, city council voted 4-2 in favor of a certificate of appropriateness, the approval need­ed for buildings in historic districts.
But some residents are not con­vinced this will bring positive impacts to the community. Opponents range from Lehigh students and professors to local business owners and resi­dents.
They believe there is an existing, eclectic community created by the large artistic presence and histor­ic character of the district. They argue Benner’s plans will destroy the uniqueness of the community and won’t necessarily guarantee eco­nomic spillover.
Benner said his opponents are jealous radicals.
“It appears the opposition con­sists of a few local folks and several Lehigh professors who incite their transient students to oppose this project in a search for relevance,” Benner said in an email.
Breena Holland, the director of the South Side Initiative and a Lehigh professor, slammed her most recent­ly published book down on her desk in reaction to this statement.
Holland said Lehigh professors get their relevance by doing research in their field. She said in an email that she is putting her research time and success aside to work with peo­ple who care about preserving the historic integrity of the South Side, and Benner is looking to exploit the existing community capital for
personal gain, whether that is in the form of financial profit or his own legacy.
Amidst these angry conversa­tions are the respective sides for the Fourth and Vine building. Benner’s proponents argue the new building will bring more people into the South Side and point out there is current­ly nothing — people or business — inside the building that will be affected. His opponents are against his disregard for historic conserva­tion and his negative attitude.
The South Side is one of three areas deemed a historic district in Bethlehem since 1999. According to the South Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission’s design guidelines, new construction poses a big threat to preservation. The guidelines encourage: “preserva­tion of the cohesive ambiance of the Historic Conservation District with compatible, sympathetic, and contemporary construction” and “compatible siting, proportion, scale, form, materials, fenestration, roof configuration, details and finishes.”
Opponents argue Benner’s plans do not follow the guidelines. Holland said the building will chop up the South Side’s historic character because of its modern style and larg­er than three to four story height.
In defense, Benner said the build­ing will be nine stories because it is the most economically viable. Once a builder surpasses a certain height, new regulations become mandatory, and he or she must build even taller to recoup those costs.
Benner said he believes the histor­ical look of the South Side is gone, and there is no affordable way to build a structure that replicates a historic appearance.
City Council President J. William Reynolds supports the project. He said while the buildings are old, the
Raven Atkins/B&W Staff
This abandoned building is one of the few intended to become a 13-story high-rise in Bethlehem. The plans are an effort to bring more students and young professionals to the South Side community.
By PAIGE MANDY
Special to the B&W
See BUILDING Page 4
South Side construction project incites conflict
Sidebar: Larger, more ex­pensive businesses threat­en South Side business­es like Homebase Skateshop
See Page 4
This story is the second in a series examining the actions Lehigh University is taking to address cam­pus climate as a result of the volun­tary resolution agreement with the OCR.
The review of Lehigh’s harassment policy, a document aimed at defin­ing harassment and strategies to address incidents at Lehigh, began in the spring of 2014. Although minor changes have been made to the doc­ument over the years to comply with laws, major changes have not been made since its creation in 2002.
The revision process started with getting best practices from outside counsel, who previously worked for the Office of Civil Rights. Over the summer, the harassment policy was revised several times by benchmark­ing against other policies and incor­porating the requirements of the OCR agreement.
The committee
This fall, a committee of 20 faculty, staff and undergraduate and gradu­ate students was compiled to review and discuss the new harassment pol­icy draft.
Heather Hosfeld, the deputy gen­eral counsel in the Office of the General Counsel, has taken the lead in organizing the revision of Lehigh’s harassment policy.
“It was really a matter of making sure it was readable, it was concise, it had all of the elements,” she said.
Hosfeld is on the Council for Equity and Community and looked to that committee for finding people to help review the policy. Members in a sub­committee of the council that deals with policy review and governance were also asked to review the policy.
Hosfeld reached out to other facul­ty and staff that had shown interest in these issues and asked Sharon Basso, the associate vice provost and dean of students, about students who would be a good fit for the committee.
Chris Mulvihill, assistant dean in the Office of Student Conduct, was a member of the harassment policy review committee. He said it made
Harassment policy revised in wake of OCR
By SAMANTHA TOMASZEWSKI
Associate News Editor
See HARASSMENT Page 3
Inside news