Stage: Planning phase · Independent project
Contact
David Fischbarg is the organizer. The project has no public contact address yet, so for now this page explains what would help most, which roles you can choose and how credit works.
How to reach us
David Fischbarg
There is no public contact address yet. A project address, not a personal one, will appear on this site once the project has its own domain.
Until then, this site carries the plan, the feasibility brief and its sources.
Your privacy
- This site is static and collects nothing. It sets no cookies, runs no tracking or analytics, and has no forms or sign-ups.
- Its fonts are stored on the site itself, so your browser does not contact a font service.
- We will not add you to a mailing list or pass your details to anyone else.
What would help most
We are in the planning phase, so this is the easiest time to change the plan. Four kinds of message help us most.
Ideas from every age and ability
Tell us what your family would love to do, and what would make a visit hard. Ideas from children, teens, parents, grandparents, neighbors and people with disabilities matter most.
Children are welcome to share ideas with help from a parent or another trusted adult.
Local knowledge about places
You may know things a web search cannot show: a field that floods after storms, a path neighbors use every day, a busy road crossing, or a place we have missed.
Our research could not open county property maps, FEMA flood maps, or town and township websites. What you know on the ground really helps.
Concerns about traffic, noise or safety
Tell us early. Worries are easier to plan around before anything is drawn for a real site.
The plans already include ideas such as low-noise rides, a stage that faces away from homes, planted buffers, an evening curfew, access by bus and trail, and rides checked by certified inspectors.
Corrections to facts
Facts on this site come from our feasibility brief. Each one has a source, or is marked as an assumption or as unknown.
An independent fact-checker tested every claim from our second research round: 65 confirmed, 14 corrected, none proven wrong, and 86 we could not check. If something is wrong or out of date, tell us where you saw the right answer.
Questions we would love your answers to
Each question is tagged with the smallest park size where the idea would first appear. The sizes: Scale A · Small Public Discovery Park (pilot), about 5–15 acres; Scale B · Family Attraction Park, about 20–35 acres; Scale C · Larger Regional Park (only if justified), about 50–120 acres.
- What would make the playgrounds work for your child, whatever their age or ability? Scale A
- Would your family use a splash pad in summer? Scale A/B
- Would a carousel and a few gentle family rides bring you back, or would you come mainly for the grounds, gardens and play? Scale B
- What should sensory-friendly hours include, and which days and times would suit you? Every scale
- What would you like to learn about in a Discovery Barn: the Lehigh River, Moravian heritage, or steel and industry? Scale B
- How would you get there: by bus, on foot, by bike on a trail, or by car? Every scale
Roles you can choose
Help in the role you like, the way you might pick a position in a game. Switch roles any time. Most roles need no training.
Honest about today
No site is confirmed yet, and nothing is scheduled. For now, helping means sharing ideas, doing research, helping plan outreach, and helping at pop-up “Discovery Days” in existing parks if and when they happen.
Roles anyone can start, no training needed
Garden helper
- What it could look like now
- Share ideas for native gardens, meadows and pollinator plants.
Storyteller and local-history researcher
- What it could look like now
- Gather stories about the Lehigh River, Moravian heritage and steel.
Photographer
- What it could look like now
- Plan photos of pop-up days, with permission from everyone shown.
Survey and feedback helper
- What it could look like now
- Write simple surveys and gather ideas from friends and neighbors.
Event greeter
- What it could look like now
- Plan a welcome for pop-up Discovery Days, if they happen.
Cleanup crew
- What it could look like now
- Plan pop-up days with reusable dishware and free water refill.
Translator
- What it could look like now
- Share our ideas in other languages, starting with Spanish.
Accessibility tester
- What it could look like now
- Tell us what is hard about this website or our plans.
| Role | What it could look like now |
|---|---|
| Garden helper | Share ideas for native gardens, meadows and pollinator plants. |
| Storyteller and local-history researcher | Gather stories about the Lehigh River, Moravian heritage and steel. |
| Photographer | Plan photos of pop-up days, with permission from everyone shown. |
| Survey and feedback helper | Write simple surveys and gather ideas from friends and neighbors. |
| Event greeter | Plan a welcome for pop-up Discovery Days, if they happen. |
| Cleanup crew | Plan pop-up days with reusable dishware and free water refill. |
| Translator | Share our ideas in other languages, starting with Spanish. |
| Accessibility tester | Tell us what is hard about this website or our plans. |
Trained roles
These matter once there are events, or a site with rides, food or crowds.
- First aidEvery scale
- Maintenance leadEvery scale
- Food handlerScale BNeeds food-safety certification.
- Ride operatorScale BA paid job for people 16 and older, under Pennsylvania rules. Needs the ride maker’s training and ASTM F770 training (the industry standard for running and caring for rides), then supervised days and a sign-off.
Nobody signs themselves off: someone else always signs off a trained role.
Paid staff would also look after maintenance, safety and education. Volunteers add to paid staff and never replace safety roles.
Later, people could join these roles through Project OS, the free shared tool our projects use. No roles are posted there yet.
Quick guide to every role (PDF)
See youth programs and volunteering on the Nature & Learning page
Credit for your help
Work done out of kindness should be seen and remembered. There are no credits to list yet.
Credited by name and role
Everyone behind a design, document, discovery or accomplishment is credited by name and role. A project lead verifies each credit, and it is kept permanently. Each person chooses how their name appears.
You choose how your name appears
If your research, correction or idea changes a document or design, tell us how you would like to be credited. You can also choose not to be named. We will not publish your name or your words without asking you first.
Hours are never ranked
Stats for each role and the hours someone worked come from confirmed records. They are shown to that person, never ranked and never used for awards.
Please don’t contact anyone for us
Please don’t contact landowners, agencies or businesses on the project’s behalf; only the organizer speaks for it.
Nothing has been agreed in writing with the City or with any landowner or agency. Before we ask about any site, we need to check county and local records: who owns it, its boundaries and zoning, and any flood zones, wetlands, protected habitat or utilities.
Early calls from many people can give the wrong impression that the project is further along than it is. Please also stay on public paths and never enter private land to look at a place.
Nobody is collecting money
There are no tickets, passes or memberships, and this site does not ask for donations. If anyone asks you for money in the name of Bethlehem Discovery Park, it is not from us.
The project has no public contact address yet. When it has one, it will be a project address, shown at the top of this page.