Robert Donchez

Bob Donchez, Mayor of City of Bethlehem, and in 2005 I was a member of city council. I was elected to city council in 1995.

Well, I grew up two blocks from the blast furnaces right above the Bethlehem Steel Complex in the 60s and needless to say 70s. At the height of Bethlehem Steel there were 30,000 people working here in the City of Bethlehem at the Bethlehem plant. And then through the 80s and 90s it dwindled down to about 3,500. But, you know, South Bethlehem was very robust. We had a very vibrant shopping center on the South Side. Third Street, South Side. It was very robust. I mean if you went down on a Thursday night there were literally hundreds of people. At 3rd and Adams Street where you have the strip mall with the Rite Aid right now, that was actually a farmer's market. A huge market, a stone building, very impressive. And that's where police headquarters was. It was on the second 00:01:00floor of that building. There were many markets. There were many food places, many restaurants, clothing stores. So for maybe about five or six blocks you had a very vibrant shopping district because that's before the days of the Lehigh Valley Mall. And today we know how retail is changing, that malls are dying in a sense. But if you went down on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, you saw hundreds of people shopping on 3rd Street, and I remember that vaguely as a little kid. Bethlehem was a one industry town, like many other communities. If you didn't have a relative or a family member working at Bethlehem Steel, that was very, very unusual. So it was an exciting time. Bethlehem Steel did a lot of good for the city of Bethlehem. The Bethlehem Water Authority. We have the best water in my opinion in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It's up at the Poconos. Our water comes 30 miles by a gravity system, and we distribute it to quite a few communities. So Bethlehem Steel was a very good corporate citizen, and we can't forget that. And unfortunately, you know the company went bankrupt and closed. 00:02:00And now we have the opportunity to develop the site again. But it was an exciting time, but everyone was connected to the Steel directly or indirectly.

Sands is very important. I mean obviously they built the casino, the garage, the hotel, and the retail center. What's disappointing to me, as a member of council and now as mayor, is that they did not continue to develop the site. And I understand economics and the dynamics, and their model today is much different than it was 10 years ago when we were going through the debate.

Not really. I mean, you have a certain percentage of people that will always be 00:03:00against the casino. But if you go back and look at the transcripts of the debates going back 10, 11 years ago, people were predicting high crime and prostitution and everything else, and that never happened. And the fact that you bring in 10,000 people a day to the casino on an average. We are one of the safest cities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We just got that award a month ago again. I think it's been an asset because it does provide basically 3000 jobs for people, and it provides benefits for people. We can't forget that. And it's very important to the economy of Bethlehem and the whole Lehigh Valley.

My hope is that Wind Creek will develop the 130 acres. It's important to develop 00:04:00the site. They floated the idea that they would consider maybe an indoor water park in the No. 2 Shop. That's not a final decision, that was just one idea. Other ideas are being studied for that building. But again, I think it's very important since this would be their largest casino, and they do want to make it a destination center to attract new people because you don't know three to five years you'll probably have casinos in New York City. The Asian market is about 20 to 25 percent; they'll lose that. So you need to bring new customers here and building it out as a family center may be the right approach. But I'll leave that to that to them. I've had four meetings with Wind Creek: two on the phone and two in person, and they've been very positive meetings. I'm excited with the new leadership, and I'm hoping that Harrisburg approves it. But I also want Wind Creek to be involved in the South Side. I want them to be involved in our public school system. We have an outstanding public school system led by Dr. Roy. I 00:05:00want them to be involved in the Hispanic Center. I want them to be involved in the community. I want them to be very good corporate citizens.

Well I think on the South Side, my goal is--and we have started-- it is to really develop the South Side. You could see Third Street changing with a new office building and a new apartment complex, and the second apartment complex will start construction next month. And I have to give a lot of credit to my good friend President Simon of Lehigh University and the board of trustees because President Simon and I work very closely together. We become very good friends, and he and the board made a very bold move to move offices off-campus into the heart of the South Side when they committed to go into the building at 3rd and New along with St. Luke's. I want to give Rick Anderson a lot of credit on that. And building the College of Health which will start this month. There's 00:06:00a very good chance you'll see Lehigh coming more into South Bethlehem, and really making South Bethlehem a college town. You're going to see more apartments built, and you're going to see that 130 acre site develop. I can't get in the details, but I think if you come back in 5 to 10 years you're going to see additional development that you'll be very surprised.