Brown and White Vol. 134 no. 15

              The Brown and White Vol. 134 No. 15
Friday, April 6, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
HOTEL BETHLEHEM REVISITS EXPANSION
Natalia Butler/B&W Staff
The proposal to expand Hotel Bethlehem must comply with three conditions to be approved by the Bethlehem Revitalization and
Improvement Authority. The expansion would add 200 more guest rooms and a 460-spot parking garage.
hotel the premier convention cen-ter
in the Lehigh Valley.
The hotel owners proposed a
plan to build a 460-spot parking
garage, topped with four stories of
conference rooms and an estimat-ed
200 more guest rooms.
For the project to come to frui-tion,
it first needs approval from
the Bethlehem Revitalization and
By SOPHIA HOLT
B&W Staff
Plans to expand the Historic
Hotel Bethlehem are being recon-sidered
and could increase patron-age
of the city by 70,000 people.
Alex Karras, the chief of staff to
Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez,
said the project aims to make the
Improvement Authority, or BRIA.
As someone who used to live
and now works in Bethlehem,
Karras thinks the project will
draw people into the city.
She said the increase in hotel
rooms will increase the number of
people walking Main Street, who
See HOTEL Page 2
Vanessa
Williams talks
founding,
being FIERCE
By JESSICA HICKS
News Editor
What began as a Facebook support
group for friends lamenting the out-come
of the 2016 presidential elec-tion
quickly became a women’s rights
organization with more than 3,000
members.
In the process, it transformed a
fourth-generation Lehigh Valley resi-dent
with an interest in activism into
a leader of her community.
Vanessa Williams, the founder of
Feminists Improving Equal Rights
in Communities Everywhere, or
FIERCE, was shocked when her
online social circle exploded into a
social justice group eager to take
action.
Barely two days after Williams
created the support page, she decid-ed
to organize an anti-hate rally at
Bethlehem’s Payrow Plaza. About
150 people attended, including some
members of the city council.
A year and a half later, FIERCE
is co-hosting marches and empower-ment
events with over 1,000 attend-ees
across various racial, cultural
and political identities.
Despite feeling as though the
opportunity merely fell into her lap,
Williams quickly settled into her role
as an advocate for women’s rights.
“I’ve always felt like I was a femi-nist,”
Williams said. “I go back to my
mom and the values she taught me.
My mom was actually an accidental
activist, which is kind of how I think
of myself.”
Williams said her childhood home
was located near the Lehigh Valley
Airport. When there was discus-sion
about changing flight patterns,
her mother spoke up because such
changes would mean more noise in
the sleepy town of Catasauqua.
“She got upset, got some neighbors
together and fought for more than 10
years for a soundproofing program,”
Williams said. “I didn’t realize at the
time, but she was showing me how to
do all of the things I’m doing now.”
Brina Jones, Williams’ sister, said
it was unsurprising that Williams
followed in their mother’s footsteps.
“We were raised to believe that
we could do anything,” Jones said.
“There was never a discussion about
something we couldn’t do or weren’t
capable of. As the younger sibling, I
really saw (Williams) take that and
run with it.”
Williams continues to spread an
‘anything is possible’ mentality.
Elizabeth Morasco, a member of
FIERCE and a field organizer of
Second Avenue to undergo construction
Logan LaClair/B&W Staff
Second Avenue is located near popular attractions in Bethlehem, such as the Banana
Factory. The Bethlehem City Council voted to narrow the street to improve the safety of
pedestrians and drivers
By JORDAN WOLMAN
Assistant News Editor
The Bethlehem City Council
approved the vacation of Second
Avenue in a meeting on March 20,
allowing the road to be narrowed
as part of the effort to restore parts
of the Bethlehem Armory. The plan
also includes construction of a new
apartment complex behind the
armory.
The council voted 6-1 in favor
of the vacation. Councilman Bryan
Callahan abstained because his
younger brother works for the
developer involved in the project, he
wrote in an email.
The city of Bethlehem received 10
proposals for the construction before
See SECOND Page 2 See WILLIAMS Page 3