Is Green Initiative Too Ugly for Bethlehem?

When the Stone House Group appealed to the South Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission last year for its blessing to put a solar collector atop the 100-year-old Flat Iron Building, building owners promised that the dish would, for the most part, be invisible from the surrounding neighborhood.

But in the month or so since the dish was erected on the six-story building’s roof, the array has at once become one of the most visible features of South Bethlehem’s skyline.

This week, some of the neighbors voiced their displeasure at City Council.

Stephen Antalics brought copies of a black and white photograph of the solar array with his complaints.

Mary Pongracz, the venerable retired English teacher who also sits on the Historic Conservation Board, minced no words.

“I can’t even call it a thing. It’s beyond a thing. It’s a piece of junk,” she said.

Just as scary for Pongracz is the notion that the building’s owners – The Stone House Group – also plan to put a wind turbine on the roof.

Setting aside any considerations about the building’s history or the aesthetics of one of the city’s most unique buildings – designed by famed local architect A.W. Leh to fit into the Five Points corner at W. Fourth Street and Broadway, the idea behind the solar collector was an exciting one.

The Stone House Group aimed to create a zero-carbon neighborhood that produces no greenhouse gases and manufactures all of its own energy needs on site. But in its admirable attempt to limit air pollution in South Bethlehem, has Stone House added visual pollution?

“It’s just not particularly attractive,” said the Rev. Craig Weidman, a SouthSide resident and Patch blogger. “It’s not in keeping with the character of that building or the neighborhood around it.”

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