Bethlehem Steel Walk

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1.) The place I am choosing for my locative media project is Bethlehem Pennsylvania. Bethlehem is located in the Lehigh Valley and is about an hour and a half away from Philadelphia and New York. Bethlehem is well known for it’s once booming steel company that eventually closed down. Bethlehem is rich with history and is now a growing spot for the arts, with places like the Banana Factory, a center for education and other artistic outlets. The city of Bethlehem has been recently put back on the map due to a new casino that has been built upon some of the old steel company’s property. Another interesting fact of Bethlehem is that is was used for the filming of the opening scene in the film Transformers 2.

2.) The communications method I would like to use for this project would be video and audio by use of an iPod or other mobile device. This method of technology will assist with a narrative because users will follow along like a tour with the video in front of them and listen along.

3.) The way my narrative will work is by beginning at a specific spot. The video they are watching will instruct them when to stop, and when to proceed. By using this locative media activity users will be able to experience the area in a way they couldn’t before. Instead of just walking around they will be guided by the video and audio which will allow them to gain knowledge of an area that they may have lived in for awhile or an area that is brand new to them. Participants will know when specific “trigger points” are because the video will notify them. Text of audio will instruct the users to either look at something specific or stop and pay attention to something else. Each “trigger point” in my narrative will have something to do specifically with what the user is hearing or seeing. Without the iPod and being there the sense of history and a city that has changed wouldn’t be as drastic and interesting.

4.) The way my narrative will work is by first having the users begin at a specific location. The spot that start at is a monument built in honor of the workers of Bethlehem Steel. At this location participants may read the bricks with men and women’s names on them, also some of the other plaques in the vicinity. There is also an impressive statue of a steelworker lifting an I-beam at the spot. By beginning at this place participants will get a feel of what the workers went through and how important the steel industry was for not only the town of Bethlehem, but for the entire country. From the start of this activity users will be wearing headphones and watching a video screen (an iPod or cell phone). On the screen will be a guided tour of where they are going. From the headphones the users will hear interviews with old steel workers and families of steel workers that had a chance to know the town when it was the 2^nd largest steel producer in the country. From the monument, participants will follow the video guide onto other parts of the city. The interviews that users are listening to will coincide with where they are walking, this way they can not only hear about what Bethlehem used to look like, but they can see what it looks like at that very moment. The majority of the walk will occur down 3^rd street, which has drastically changed throughout the years, especially within the past 10 to 15. By the end of the walk the participants will be at the site of the new casino. This casino was a topic of controversy for the past few years in Bethlehem for obvious reasons. At this point in the video and audio I would have Bethlehem resident interviews on what their opinion of the casino is and whether they think it is good for the city. Another idea is to have some old archival footage of the steel company on the iPod as they look at the brand new casino this way viewers may see how much its changed while listening to residents’ views and opinions on the matter.

5.) The reason I chose this specific location is because I grew up pretty close to the area. I never truly understood how big of a roll Bethlehem Steel played in the growth of the nation. By having a historical walk through what now is somewhat abandoned, out-of-towners or even residents like myself may find out new and fascinating information on a city that has changed so much within the last 20 years. I think hearing how Bethlehem residents and old steelworkers feel on the casino project and the shutting down of the company itself while walking in the city would be a really be great experience. Anyone can drive down 3^rd street and see the old mills and the abandoned warehouses and think nothing of it. However like previously mentioned, the company was the 2^nd largest supplier of steel during the first half of the 20^th century, and to be able to listen to the accounts of workers and the people of the city while walking through would put an entire new perspective on the city. Every place has a story and to hear it from the mouths of its people while walking in it, you can almost feel how much the city has changed, and feel how important it was to those you are listening to.