Executive Director Marc Rittle was granted a certificate of appropriateness for signage at several properties New Bethany Ministries owns at the Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission’s Sept. 21 meeting. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ‘virtual’ hearing was conducted through gotomeeting.com.

Rittle explained the new signage will feature the nonprofit’s new logo. The COA is listed for 333 W. Fourth St., but includes approval for signs at 313, 327 and 339, 341 W. Fourth, as well as 335 and 338 Wyandotte St.

A 30-inch by 40-inch hanging blade sign for New Bethany Ministries’ main office at 333 W. Fourth St. and a 36-inch by 48-inch one for the residential building at 335 Wyandotte St. with off-white lettering and pinstripe on a blue background were approved.

A 60-inch by 12-inch sign for the “Mollard Hospitality Center” at 341 W. Fourth St. for the transom above the door was approved. A 24-inch by 14-inch sign identifying the “Main Office” for the upper portion of that door and a 15-inch by 18-inch sign listing hours for the lower portion of both doors were allowed.

Eight-inch by 8-inch placards with logo and addresses for installation on or next to entrance doors, 30-inch by 6-inch signs for “Service Entrance,” “Exit Only” and similar types of functional signage were okayed by the commissioners. The applicants have the option to outline the edge of the functional signs in lieu of the inset pinstripes.

Two more colorful 36-inch by 53-inch wall signs featuring the yellow, orange and blue “Choice Food Pantry” logo “New Bethany” logo, hours and contact information were included in the COA. The facility is located in a two-story garage down the street from the Mollard Hospitality Center.

The organization plans to reveal the new logo at their October 2020 Souper Day virtual luncheon.

In other actions, WuQiang Zhuo scored approval for a new sign for his restaurant at 312 E. Third St. The red, pin-mounted individual letters spelling out “Hi-Pot” with “Taste of Taiwan” on a red rectangle is accompanied with a curl-like logo. The 80-inch by 22-inch signage is to be centered over the double door entrance. Board members asked Zhuo to install spacers behind the letters to allow them to protrude from the wall and to patch holes made by previous signage.

The three-story, Victorian-style, contemporary building is owned by Xin Dong.

Landlord Frederick Rooney sought approval for a pair of replacement box signs designed for his first-floor tenant La Lupita at 4 W. Fourth St. They measure 120.5 inches by 30 inches and one faces W. Fourth Street, the other can be seen from New Street. Although the revised design for the restaurant featuring decorative serif lettering for “La Lupita Authentic Mexican Food” in caps surrounded by a band of flowers, Rooney was unable to receive permission to continue to have it backlit.

The voting was unanimous on all proposals.

Jackson Eighmy returned for additional advice on an ambitious project to renovate 409 – 411 Wyandotte St. Grateful for the input, Eighmy appeared disappointed the board refrained from voting on the proposed partial demolition phase of his plans.

As requested from the previous month’s meeting, the young developer provided photographs of the collapsing rear addition of 409 Wyandotte St with a report from Lock Ridge Engineering. It stated, “…the rear portion of the building is derelict and beyond repair. In our professional opinion the safest approach for renovation is to demolish the rear addition and rebuild it.”

After studying the concept diagram and various elevations of the proposed new construction for a stair tower and balconies behind the 3-story main building, as well as walk-out basements and exterior stairs for the lower level parking lot behind the buildings, board members requested floor plans and greater detail. They questioned why the basement and first floor of the rear addition of 411 Wyandotte St. had windows that did not align with the windows of the upper floors of the back of the main building,

The HCC requested additional samples of construction materials to be used for the replacement structure before they could make a ruling on the partial demolition proposal.

Eighmy did receive consent to align the architectural elements of both building façades although they had not been originally aligned when the row of storefronts were built in the 1880s.

Historic Officer Jeff Long pointed out the buildings had been “paired” as they descended the hill leading to the 5-Points intersection. 409 Wyandotte St. had once been attached to the Globe Theater, which burned down in 1983. Its attached neighbor to the south, 411 Wyandotte St., also owned by Palace Row, LLC, had been “paired” with 413, which is owned by someone else.

Chairman Philip Roeder suggested that if 409 and 411 were paired together, the owner of 413 Wyandotte St. could align his cornices and other elements with his neighbor to the south at 415 Wyandotte. Currently the four attached structures had been significantly altered over the years and have lost much of their original storefront details.

Board members were receptive to the overall new design of the front facades and the developer’s plan to mimic the cornice from a historically intact storefront down the street.