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BethlehemDiscovery ParkCommunity project

Stage: Planning phase · Independent project

Sources

Every fact on this site comes from our feasibility brief. The brief lists the public sources behind its facts and marks our own estimates and assumptions. Here are all 203 sources, each with a label that says how sure we are.

Brief version 1.3 · Sources accessed October 18, 2026

Read the full feasibility brief

A plain-text file. It may download, and any text editor can open it.

How sure are we?

We did all of this research online: two rounds, then a focused update for version 1.1. Each source below carries one of four labels.

Fact-checked47 of 203 sources

These sources come from round 2, when an independent fact-checker tried to prove each claim wrong. Facts it confirmed or corrected count as checked. Facts from an official page that it could not re-check are marked Single source.

Search extract74 of 203 sources

These sources come from round 1. We read the short extract of each page that a search engine showed, because the full page could not be opened.

v1.1 search extract77 of 203 sources

These sources were added in the October 2026 update (version 1.1): county records on Gall Farm Preserve, plus searches on electricity service, bus and trail access, and missing source links. We again read search extracts. In this update, a fact counts as checked when two or more independent or official sources agree.

To verify against official text5 of 203 sources

These are national rules, standards and safety guides, such as the ADA 2010 Standards and the FDA Food Code. We have not yet checked them against their full official wording.

How the research rounds worked

  • Round 1 covered six topics: city sites, regional sites, nearby attractions and examples elsewhere, rules, funding and costs, and transit and plans.
  • Round 2 added eight more research streams to fill the gaps.
  • Of the round-2 claims, 65 were confirmed and 14 were corrected. None was proven wrong. Another 86 could not be checked before the search limit ran out.
  • In round 2, we left out claims from unofficial sources that could not be checked.
  • Version 1.1 (the same day) added the owner’s correction about Gall Farm Preserve from county records, plus three focused searches: electricity service, bus and trail access for each area, and missing source links. They used about 70 more web searches.

What we could not do

  • Network rules blocked full documents, so we read only search results and their short extracts.
  • We could not open county parcel maps, FEMA flood maps, or city and township websites. FEMA is the federal agency that maps flood zones.
  • The first two rounds shared one limit of 200 searches. We reached it, so some topics are not finished.
  • No engineering, surveying, traffic study, environmental testing, appraisal, market study, cost estimate or legal review has been done.
  • Property lines, ownership, zoning, flood zones, wetlands, wildlife habitat and utilities are not yet confirmed for any site. Before any outreach, they must be confirmed with the Lehigh and Northampton County assessment and mapping offices and the local municipality.

What is still open

Some questions need records requests or calls, not web searches, such as the city’s zoning districts, its noise ordinance text and a carousel’s state ride class. We keep one list of what is decided and what is still open, so it cannot drift between pages. It is on the roadmap.

See what is decided and what is still open

Other labels you will see on this site

In the brief and on the other pages, each label belongs to a single fact. These are the words they use:

Verified
From an official or primary source, seen as a search extract.
Reported
From a news report or another secondary source.
Assumption
A planning assumption we made for this project.
Unknown
Not established yet.

All 203 sources

The links come straight from section 18 of the brief, and we gave some of them clearer names. Round 1 sources are grouped by topic. Round 2 sources are listed together. Sources added in version 1.1 sit in the group for their topic, with their own label. Open a group to see its links.

Each link opens the original page in a new tab. Pages on other websites can change or move, so check the original page before you rely on it.

A source is not a supporter

Nothing has been agreed in writing with the City or with any landowner or agency. Being listed here does not mean that an organization knows about this project, supports it or takes part in it.

Sites (region)

Show27 sources:18Search extractand9v1.1 search extract

County parks and county records on Gall Farm Preserve, land sales and property listings around the Lehigh Valley, plus the state floodplain guide.

Transit and plans

Show36 sources:6Search extractand30v1.1 search extract

A city trail study, a bridge listed as an unmet need, LANta bus fares, timetables and 2026 service changes, regional plans, and trail maps.

Attractions and precedents

Show24 sources:16Search extractand8v1.1 search extract

Attractions near Bethlehem, public carousels and parks in other places that we learned from, and a few project costs.

Regulation

Show20 sources:6Search extract,9v1.1 search extractand5To verify against official text

Pennsylvania ride, food and bathing-place rules, and national standards and guides for playgrounds, access, lightning, fire lanes, native plants and young workers.

Funding and energy

Show34 sources:15Search extractand19v1.1 search extract

State and federal grant programs, clean-energy tax credits, solar net metering, and electricity service for each area.

Round 2 sources (all topics)

Show49 sources:47Fact-checkedand2v1.1 search extract

Population and income, parks and carousels elsewhere, city rules, trails and rail, site updates, safety and food rules, nonprofit filings and website hosting.

Map and drawing data

The planning drawings use public-domain map data and small programs that anyone can check.

  • County lines come from the U.S. Census Bureau. Rivers, roads and built-up areas come from Natural Earth. Both are in the public domain, so anyone may reuse them.
  • Map points are rough centers based on public descriptions, not property lines.
  • Small programs in the project files draw every sheet, so anyone with the files can rebuild the drawings and check the numbers.
  • Ride and building sizes are rough allowances. Real data from manufacturers and designers must replace them before any decision.
  • Every sheet shows its date, version and “Planning phase — illustrative layout, not a site plan” notice. Layouts are test fits on sample parcels, and the illustrations are samples, not designs.

For anyone checking the files: county lines come through the us-atlas package, Natural Earth data is at the 1:10m scale, and the programs use only the Python standard library.

Map of Lehigh and Northampton counties with the Lehigh and Delaware rivers, main roads, built-up areas, 5- and 10-mile rings around Bethlehem and twelve numbered leads at approximate points. (opens the full-size drawing in a new tab)
Site-search mapA map of the greater Bethlehem area drawn from U.S. Census county boundaries and Natural Earth rivers, roads and built-up areas, with rings 5 and 10 miles from central Bethlehem. Twelve leads are numbered; where they crowd in central Bethlehem, a number sits to one side with a thin line to a small dot at its approximate point. Screened-out areas are marked with a small cross; existing attractions are small squares. Number 1 is Gall Farm Preserve, the county’s “Gall Road” land in Plainfield Township, about 12 miles north of central Bethlehem. It is shown for reference only, at an approximate point from a third-party listing inside a dashed ring. All points are approximate and are not parcel boundaries.
Key, legend and notes

Key

  • 1Gall Farm Preserve (county “Gall Road” land): Low · about 149 (149.15 ac, Parcels A–E, 2024 council packet) · approximate point, not a parcel · Plainfield Twp · reference only · about 12 mi straight-line from central Bethlehem
  • 2Former Allentown State Hospital (“Northridge”): Medium · about 195 total; at least 70 ac kept for outdoor recreation; about 46% open space in 2024 master plan
  • 3Gracedale county campus: Medium · 365 · approximate point, not a parcel
  • 4Bethlehem city parks (pilot pieces only): High for pilots / Low for rides · 722.23 ac of parks, 11.86 mi of trails (individual sites smaller)
  • 5Wayne A. Grube Memorial Park: Medium (programs) · about 200 · approximate point, not a parcel
  • 6Louise W. Moore Park: Low–Medium · about 100
  • 7Housenick Park & Archibald Johnston Conservation Area: Low · 55.84 (township) + 36–48 (county) · approximate point, not a parcel
  • 8Former Martin Tower site (“Tower Place”): Low–Medium · about 53
  • 9Bethlehem Golf Club: Low–Medium · Unknown (18-hole par-71 course, 9-hole executive course, range)
  • 10Former Bethlehem Steel lands east of SteelStacks: Low · Wind Creek 56; Majestic 440+; LVIP VII lots
  • 11Palmer Park Mall (former Bon-Ton building): Medium (indoor only) · 100,000+ sq ft building (land unknown)
  • 12Westgate Mall: Low · about 22

Legend

Numbered lead
Shortlisted lead, numbered as in the key. Where leads crowd, the number sits to one side with a thin line to a small dot at the approximate point.
Unverified point
A number inside a dashed ring marks an approximate point from a third-party listing (unverified)
Screened out
A small cross marks an area screened out (sold, cleared for other uses, in litigation, or preserved)
Existing attraction
A small square marks an existing attraction (competitor or complement)
5- and 10-mile rings
Dotted rings 5 and 10 miles (straight line) from central Bethlehem
Built-up area
Soft tan shading marks built-up land (Natural Earth, generalized)
  • Base data: U.S. Census Bureau county boundaries via us-atlas (1:10m); Natural Earth 1:10m rivers, roads and urban areas (public domain), generalized and smoothed for readability.
  • Site points are approximate centroids from public descriptions; the Gall Farm Preserve point comes from a third-party listing and is unverified.
  • Parcel boundaries, ownership and zoning must be confirmed with Lehigh and Northampton County assessment and GIS offices before any outreach. Planning phase: no site is owned or confirmed in writing.
Planning phase — illustrative layout, not a site planOpen the full-size drawing (opens in a new tab)

How this was made

We prepared the research, writing, drawings and website code with help from an AI assistant, Claude, made by Anthropic. The assistant worked with the organizer, David Fischbarg.

AI tools can make mistakes, and so can people. That is one more reason we list every source. If a link is broken, a fact is out of date or we misread a source, please tell us. Name the page and the source if you can. We will check it and correct the brief and this site.

Report an error on the Contact page