PBS39 Kickoff Celebration. Watch the newest video about PBS39 at Steelstacks.

The 29,000 square foot PBS39 Broadcast Center, set to break ground in the next quarter, will include two television studios outfitted with state-of- the-art HD production and broadcast equipment, fully HD Master Control broadcast booth, and office space that will accommodate a future staff expansion.
The completion of the PBS39 Broadcast Center is essential in the station’s commitment to expanding educational services and producing meaningful local productions, as well as continuing to broadcast PBS favorites such as Sesame Street, Antiques Roadshow and Masterpiece Theatre.

The public television station is approved to build $17 million media production center

PBS39 got approval Thursday for its plans to build a broadcast center at the former Bethlehem Steel plant, a significant step by the struggling nonprofit in its effort to earn money by being Lehigh Valley’s go-to place for media production.

The $17 million Public Media and Education Center, which got unanimous support from the Bethlehem Planning Commission and is scheduled to break ground in June, will have two high-definition studios, a green screen similar to what television weather reporters use, a conference room, worldwide reach via satellite and enough office space for twice as many people as the public television station now employs.

The new facility will give PBS39, which saw its staff halved last year due to state budget cuts, a way to prosper even in uncertain economic times, said Patricia Simon, chief executive officer and president of the station.

The facility will allow PBS39 to produce videos for clients, rent studios to documentarians and filmmakers, and provide satellite-linked video for events such as long-distance education and conferences.

”This is an exciting project because it allows us to control our own destiny,” Simon said. ”We will be able to generate our own revenue with this facility.”

The sleek exterior pays homage to Steel by mimicking the details of its famous I-beams, while a 10-by-16-foot television above the entrance will allow anyone walking by to get a glimpse of what’s being broadcast inside.

PBS39 WLVT-TV would leave its 40-year-old building atop South Mountain and move to the middle of SteelStacks, which is being dubbed as a town square that will draw people to concerts, farmers markets, education tours, public meetings and other events. It’s scheduled to open in May 2011, and this week construction continued on another key component, ArtsQuest’s performing arts center.

New revenue is something PBS39 needs. Last year the state cut its contribution of $1 million to $100,000, forcing the station to lay off 20 people, halt production of one of its shows, the popular ”Tempo!” series, and put future documentaries on hold. Its budget has dwindled from $7.8 million in 2007-08 to $4.7 million this year.

Simon knows the station can bring in more revenue. Two years ago, she launched a pilot program producing education videos. In 18 months, she said PBS39 made $780,000 in its limited facilities.

The program was suspended after the economy soured, and there was no more demand for videos, but Simon is counting on the economy to recover, along with demand.

It’s the type of venture that PBS stations around the country have been building for years, said Ed Arke, professor of mass communication at Messiah College in Cumberland County.

”Most public broadcasters have been seeking ways to supplement their traditional income in the event funding would be cut or cease — much like state funding in Pennsylvania has been cut recently — for the last 20-30 years,” Arke said.

Arke pointed to Harrisburg’s PBS affiliate, WITF. It moved in 2007 from a former elementary school built in 1958 to a new $27 million facility. The Harrisburg station provides production support for broadcasters such as the Pennsylvania Cable Network and other local, regional and national productions. It sells its satellite uplink capabilities to CNN, network affiliates and others that come to Harrisburg for interviews with political leaders such as Gov. Ed Rendell.

”Diversification of revenue is a key strategy for any nonprofit,” WITF Chief Executive Officer Kathleen Pavelko said.

But Scott Testa, a professor of business administration at Cabrini College in Delaware County, said a public television station having space doesn’t guarantee it will generate revenue. The nonprofit stations are competing with for-profit studios that are veterans at renting out space to companies and nonprofits.

PBS ”isn’t the only one going for this piece of the pie,” he said. ”They’re competing against companies that are quite used to that realm.”

Messiah College’s Arke said while PBS stations have certain market advantages with their state-of-the-art equipment, he doubts the revenue-generating ventures will ever get to a point where the stations need no government support.

But the ventures, perhaps, lessen the reliance on those funds. That’s what Tim Fallon, former PBS39 chairman and managing director of the new SteelStacks station, considered when ArtsQuest first pitched the idea of SteelStacks.

”We asked ourselves this question: ‘What would we do if all the federal and state money went away?”’ Fallon said. ”Our answer was: ‘We would go out of business.’ ”

After the new center opens in May 2011, Fallon hopes to have a different answer.

Copyright © 2010, The Morning Call

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NEWS RELEASE

DATE: Feb. 8, 2010
CONTACT: Kassie Hilgert, 610-332-1348 or khilgert@fest.org

STEELSTACKS RECEIVES MAJOR GRANT FROM BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

BETHLEHEM, PA—As a catalyst for community revitalization in Bethlehem, the SteelStacks arts and cultural campus has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The funds will assist in the development of the ArtsQuest Center and PBS39 Broadcast Center on the campus located on former Bethlehem Steel property on the city’s South Side.

“When you begin any enterprise, it’s extremely difficult to attract early investors. Bank of America was one of the initial nongovernmental investors in the SteelStacks campus. Their support demonstrates that a national organization understands the vision and the impact that this project will have,” said ArtsQuest President Jeff Parks. “We are very thankful that Bank of America has chosen us to be the recipient of this grant, which will help us to develop an important, new arts and cultural resource for the region.”

The ArtsQuest Center is scheduled to open in May 2011. The $26-million, 65,000-square-foot center will feature the Musikfest Café concert venue for year-round live music, a two-screen cinema for independent films, the “Pod Zone” media lounge, the Blast Furnace Room for receptions, exhibitions and intimate concerts, and the Creativity Commons, a contemporary gathering space for the community. The ArtsQuest Center and ArtsQuest’s related programs on the SteelStacks campus are expected to have an economic impact of $39 million annually and attract more than 750,000 visitors to Bethlehem each year to enjoy concerts, festivals, cinema and the arts. Approximately 100 new permanent jobs and 165 construction jobs will be created as a result of the performing arts center.

“At Bank of America, we believe the vitality of a community and the success of a business like ours are inextricably linked,” said Tom Woodward, Pennsylvania Market President for Bank of America. “The revitalization of a former steel plant will serve as a catalyst for economic development within Bethlehem’s South Side neighborhood and beyond.  We are pleased to support ArtsQuest and PBS39 in establishing a cultural facility that will create a vibrant neighborhood center while enhancing the quality of life for residents throughout the Lehigh Valley.”

The 29,000-square-foot PBS39 Broadcast Center, set to break ground in June 2010, will include two television studios featuring state-of-the-art High Definition production and broadcast equipment, an HD master control broadcast booth and office space that will accommodate future staff expansion. The broadcast center’s completion is essential in the station’s commitment to expanding educational services, developing meaningful local productions and continuing to broadcast PBS favorites such as Sesame Street, Antiques Roadshow and Masterpiece Theatre.

“PBS39 is truly honored by Bank of America’s generosity.  We are grateful for this substantial gift; a gift that will help us to enrich the intellectual and cultural strength of the services that PBS39 provides to our region through educational and outreach programs. Bank of America has helped to make the dream of the new, state-of-the-art PBS39 Broadcast Center at SteelStacks a reality,” said PBS President and CEO Patricia Simon.

ABOUT BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY

Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, last year Bank of America embarked on a 10-year goal to donate $2 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2008, making the bank the most generous financial institution in the world and the second largest donor of all U.S. corporations in cash contributions. Bank of America approaches investing through a national strategy called “neighborhood excellence” under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Bank associate volunteers contributed more than 900,000 hours in 2008 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide. For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

ABOUT ARTSQUEST
ArtsQuest is a community-focused nonprofit arts organization located in Bethlehem. The organization, founded in 1984, presents the 10-day music festival Musikfest each August and the 15-day holiday marketplace Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem in November/December. It also owns and operates the Banana Factory cultural arts and education center and is developing the new, 65,000-square-foot ArtsQuest Center performing arts center in Bethlehem. For more information on ArtsQuest, visit www.artsquest.org. For more information on SteelStacks, visit www.steelstacks.org.

ABOUT PBS39
PBS39 is a community-owned public television station licensed to Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, serving eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. PBS39 is owned and operated by the Lehigh Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation. For more information about PBS39, visit www.wlvt.org. For more information on PBS39 at SteelStacks, visit www.pbs39atsteelstacks.org.

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Find out what Don Archiable, Managing Director, URS, Architectural Firm, has to say about  PBS39 and its impact on future technology.

URS is a global company dedicated to providing the professional and technical expertise for both public and private clients throughout the world. The URS team has significant experience in the design of broadcast, production, broadcast related and mission critical projects. With that experience comes the required understanding of the associated current and future technologies and the infrastructure it takes to support it. URS’ most recent broadcast clients have included, in addition to WLVT, The Weather Channel, Fox Broadcasting, WBNS, a CBS affiliate, and Detroit Public Television. In addition to broadcasting clients, URS is currently completing assignments for the Cleveland Clinic, United Parcel Service, Purdue University, Banner Health System and several projects for numerous agencies within the federal government.

URS Corporation (NYSE: URS) is a leading provider of architecture, engineering, construction and technical services for public agencies and private sector companies around the world. The Company offers a full range of program management; planning, design and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance; construction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure services. Headquartered in San Francisco, the Company operates through three divisions: the URS Division, the EG&G Division and the Washington Division. URS Corporation has more than 47,000 employees in a network of offices in more than 30 countries (www.urscorp.com).

Alvin H. Butz, Inc. provides construction management services for corporate, commercial and institutional clients in eastern Pennsylvania. With a heritage of over 90 years, the company has a reputation for high-quality, cost-effective construction management services and is recognized as the premier builder of the region’s largest, most complex structures. The firm possesses significant experience in the construction of sports and entertainment venues, hi-tech facilities, corporate office buildings, healthcare facilities, colleges/universities, government buildings, K-12 schools and retail buildings.