Ground broken for project to adapt and reuse part of old Bethlehem Steel plant

Groundbreaking took place Thursday morning for Lebanon Steel Works, a $3 million project that will adapt and reuse a vacant 30,000-square-foot building once part of Lebanon’s former Bethlehem Steel plant.

The property at 121 Schneider Drive, Lebanon, fronts on North Lincoln Avenue, just south of the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks.

The project was first announced in September 2024 when Evan Reinhardt of West Chester-based Common Craft Development briefed Lebanon City Council on his concept for an “artisan industrial space” for 15 to 25 small businesses that would “benefit from co-location.”

Steel Works has drawn widespread support and been endorsed by local officials, including city Mayor Sherry Capello, state Sen. Chris Gebhard, and state Rep. John Schlegel, all of whom attended and spoke Thursday.

The work will be partly funded by a grant and low interest financing from the state through the Commonwealth Financing Authority, an arm of the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Lebanon’s Funk Construction will act as construction manager and oversee the work, which is expected to be completed by October.

Bethlehem Steel acquired Lebanon’s American Iron & Steel Manufacturing Co. in 1916. Until its closing in 1985, the plant made nuts, bolts, and other industrial fasteners.

At its peak, it was said to be one of the largest producers of steel fasteners in the world.

Reinhardt told attendees that honoring Lebanon’s past as a steel town was important to him.

“This building can be something to more people, impsact more people, and grow into something for this community,” he said. “You know, since I started walking through with folks, whether it was the plumber to scope out the drain lines, prospective tenants, or the mayor herself, every person with a foot in this community had a father or an uncle or a grandfather with some point of contact to this site, and probably somebody who worked within these buildings.

“I want to honor the heritage that this building holds.”

Funk Construction’s project manager Jessica Kosoff said Reinhardt’s “vision to bring this building back to life and strengthen Lebanon’s culture through the arts caught my attention right away. … I saw quickly how closely his goals aligned with Funk Construction. We’ve always been dedicated and devoted to Lebanon, helping clients improve the spaces where they live, work, and gather, whether it’s a small or a large change.”

Speaking inside the building after gold shovels had turned over ceremonial dirt, Reinhardt said his idea for Steel Works is to divide the two-floor building into smaller spaces where tenants can work creatively and benefit from being close to one another.

“My wife is an artist and a small business owner. And I came to know the rich craft heritage that exists in the city of Lebanon and the surrounding area,” he said. “And the thought was that if we put a bunch of those types of business owners together, that they’d be able to benefit from some co-location, and kind of create a community that was greater than the sum of its parts.

“And so it’s been a multi-year process to get to this point of breaking ground. We have a handful of tenants, about 75% of the first floor space is here, signed up to take spaces. And we’re going to start leasing the spaces on the second floor after we get a bit farther into construction.”

Trains and Bethlehem Steel: A Lebanon moment

To locals above a certain age, few things are “more Lebanon” than Bethlehem Steel and trains. So it might have been a good omen for Steel Works when the outdoor portion of the ceremony was suddenly drowned out by a westbound freight train roaring by just a few yards away.

The train rolled through just as Gebhard was beginning his remarks. He stopped, smiled good-naturedly, waited until it passed, then picked up where he’d left off.