The Banana Factory Arts Center hosted its last First Friday Dec. 6, 2024 with the “BananaRama Juried Exhibition,” arts activities, open studios, glassblowing demonstrations and rummage sale in its soon to be demolished facilities at 25 W. Third St., Bethlehem.

Maryjo Rosania-Harvie’s “Banana Dance” (2024; digital animation) and Wyatt Boehm’s “Banana&Co.” (2024; graphite on paper) are just two examples of the banana-themed artwork by community members and artists in the Alvin H. Butz Gallery. The “BananaRama Juried Exhibition” pays tribute to the more than two decades of the Banana Factory Arts Center’s existence.

Boehm’s dad, Doug, is one of several artists being displaced while the site is under construction.

ArtsQuest formally announced its new Cultural Center at a First Friday reception Oct. 4, 2024 held in the Crayola Gallery. ArtsQuest President and CEO Kassie Hilgert, along with Gregg Feinberg, co-chair of ArtsQuest’s Re-Imagine That! Campaign spoke about the nonprofit’s vision for the near future and appealed to the public to continue assisting with funding the ambitious project.

The new facilities, replacing the existing collection of repurposed retail and commercial buildings, is to be five stories. At 78,500 square feet, the state-of-the-art visual, performing arts and educational hub will provide new and expanded arts-based programming open to all ages.

According to the ArtsQuest announcement, in the works is a “Communications Pathway partnership with the Bethlehem Area School District, an Air Products Artist 3D Makerspace, a 125-seat black box comedy theater, art educator lab, additional artist studios and classrooms including designated sensory spaces, modern gallery space, dedicated meeting and hospitality venues and more.”

Feinberg mentioned ArtsQuest looks to increase the number of area youth being served from 5,000 to 10,000 through its free arts-based educational programs. The five existing classrooms will be replaced by 11.

Subsidized artist studio space will be increased by 20% – from 30 to 36 units.

At the time of the formal announcement, Hilgert said approximately 80% of its $32 million goal to build the new cultural center had been reached through public, private and individual support.

Chief Operating Officer Curt Mosel bestowed special recognition upon the founding partners of the cultural center: Air Products, Boyle Construction, Capital Blue Cross, C.F. Martin & Co., Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Crayola, Fulton Bank, Northampton County, PNC Foundation and PPL Foundation.

Back in 2018, plans were made for the demolition of three of the older structures of the arts center complex including a heavily-altered 1885 residence that once housed a brothel, a 1953 warehouse addition, a circa 1960 garage and infill built in 2000. The terra cotta D. Theodoredis Wholesale Banana Co. warehouse, which inspired the “Banana Factory” moniker, along with a circa 1925 one-story former auto parts store housing the Crayola Gallery would have been incorporated into the new construction. This would have made it possible for artists to remain in their studios during construction and part of the neighborhood’s architectural past would still be standing in the SouthSide Historic district.

Then in 2022, ArtsQuest needed to shift gears. Citing delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring costs, it was decided to raze the entire cluster of structures and build new from the ground up. Hilgert explained to the Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission it would cause “undue economic hardship” to retain and rehab the two existing buildings.

While the HCC pushed back at the revised plans, Bethlehem City Council gave the amended project a green light.

The existing structures are to be razed during the first quarter of 2025.

While the “BananaRama Juried Exhibition” ended Jan. 1, the “Women in Steel” exhibit held at the Alvin H. Butz Gallery, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, continues through Jan. 31.

For more information, call 610-332-1300 or visit artsquest.org.