PBS 39 to break ground on new Bethlehem studio in July

Television station WLVT, PBS 39 plans to start construction on its new Bethlehem headquarters in July and be completed with the 29,228-square-foot building by April 2011, the organization announced today.

The PBS39 Public Media and Education Center will be built alongside ArtsQuest’s new 65,000-square-foot performing arts center being constructed at the SteelStacks site, adjacent to the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. blast furnaces. The new PBS building will replace its current location on Lehigh University’s Mountaintop campus.

View full sizeRendering Courtesy of Westlake Reed LeskoskyThis rendering shows how the outside of ArtsQuest's SteelStacks will look when it is finished.PBS also released an architect’s rendering of the building, which is similarly styled to ArtsQuest’s SteelStacks structure with a major floor-to-ceiling glass wall.

PBS’s new building will include two state-of-the-art studios, the organization said in a news release.

Studio A is designed with seating for up to 100 audience members and will be the primary studio for the Tempo Signature Series.

The larger studio will allow PBS to open the production of "Tempo PublicSquare," a weekly 30-minute public affairs program, to the public and include a post-production audience question-and-answer component to the format of the show, the organization said.

Studio B will provide PBS 39 with additional production space as well as the ability to rent studio space and equipment to local organizations to create video content. Currently, local companies in need of such facilities travel to Philadelphia or New York City and pay significant fees, PBS said.

The new center also will give PBS 39 the ability to teach visitors about television production and provide educational services to school-aged students or adults in evening classes, the company said.

ArtsQuest’s SteelStacks performing arts center is under construction and is expected to be completed in May 2011.

Source: Express Times