Martin Tower was a 21-story, building at 1170 8th Avenue in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was the tallest building in the city as well as the greater Lehigh Valley— taller than the PPL Building in Allentown. Martin Tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 28, 2010. Originally built as the headquarters of now-defunct Bethlehem Steel, the building, which once dominated the city's skyline when completed in 1972, stood vacant from 2007 until its eventual demolition on May 19, 2019 at 7:03 AM EDT.
History
Begun in 1969, the framework of the Tower was completed in a short time. The building was completed and opened in 1972. The skyscraper was named after then-Bethlehem Steel chairman Edmund F. Martin. Bethlehem Steel spared no expense in their new skyscraper headquarters. The building was built in the shape of a cross rather than a more conventional square, in order to create more corner- and window-offices. The architect for Martin Tower was Haines Lundberg Waehler. It was built by George A. Fuller Construction Co. of New York, which also built the Flat Iron Building in New York in 1903, the CBS Building in New York in 1963 and 1251 Avenue of the Americas at Rockefeller Center in 1971. Under the initial plan, Bethlehem Steel was to build a second Tower, which is why some people refer to it as "Martin Towers." An Annex was built, intended to connect the two Towers, but the second Tower was never built. The original offices were designed by decorators from New York and included wooden furniture, doorknobs with the company logo, and handwoven carpets. The building was a testament to the economic heights the Lehigh Valley reached in the 1970s before the large economic downturn caused by the decline of the steel industry. The building was a symbol of Bethlehem Steel's power, money and dominance in the steel industry. The building had 21 floors, and each floor housed a different department of the company. When Martin Tower was opened, Bethlehem Steel was the second largest steel producer in the world and the 14th largest industrial corporation in America. In 1973, the first full year the Tower was occupied, Bethlehem Steel set a company record, producing 22.3 million tons of raw steel and shipping 16.3 million tons of finished steel. It made a $207 million profit that year, and exceeded that the following year. By 1987, a shrinking white-collar work force had the Tower sitting almost completely vacant; it was then put up for sale and other companies occupied the Tower and its annex. In 2001, Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy and officially left Martin Tower in 2003. Several companies remained until the last tenant, Receivable Management Services, departed in 2007, leaving it completely vacant.
Vacancy and demolition
In 2007, the entire building became vacant, although surface parking around the building continued in use as park-and-ride lots for local festivals. Proposals to convert the building to condominiums or apartments, along with recreational and retail space on the property, proved unfeasible due to the presence of asbestos and the cost of its removal along with the housing market crash. The City of Bethlehem subsequently applied for CRIZ designation, winning one of the two CRIZ designations on December 30, 2013. Restoration of the building, including the removal of asbestos and addition of a sprinkler system, was envisioned by the third year of the CRIZ, with renovations beginning in 2016. In July 2015, Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez announced plans to rezone the Martin Tower property. The zoning at that time had allowed mostly residential in and around the building, while protecting the building from being razed. After many public hearings and votes, the Martin Tower property was approved on December 15, 2015, for mixed-use rezoning to allow more retail space on the property. The decision also permitted demolition of Martin Tower at the owner/developer's discretion. The public had many concerns about the new rezoning. Some feared it would make it easier to remove the building. Others feared it would create a third downtown in the city and create competition to business owners. City Council passed the zoning despite the concerns of a few members of the public. On January 13, 2017, almost 10 years since the building was vacated, owners Ronca and Herrick announced removal of asbestos from the building and annex would begin, regardless of whether the Tower was ultimately renovated for adaptive reuse or demolished. In January 2019, the owners announced their redevelopment master plan would include demolition of the Tower. Martin Tower was imploded by Controlled Demolition, Inc., on May 19, 2019, at a reported cost of $575,000. Demolition officials said it was a "textbook implosion". The entire building, consisting of 6,500 square feet of concrete and 16,000 tons of steel, came down in only 16 seconds. Nearby roads and highways were open soon after it came down.
