The Christmas Story That Wasn’t; There Was No Holiday Parking Disaster in Bethlehem

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

When the Bethlehem Parking Authority moved to take down the old Walnut Street garage and put up a new parking deck, many conspiratorial things were said.

Most off-the-record, of course.

Understandably, people who lived near the old garage were concerned, but some nasty things were said and some allegations (anonymous) were tossed about.

Such as: “The deck doesn’t have to come down.” — Incorrect. It had reached its useful lifespan, based on industry standards.

“Parking studies were not done correctly.” Really? Prove it. Nobody did.

“Holiday parking will be a disaster!” It wasn’t.

The construction period is not going to be easy for neighbors, but then that’s what happens when you live near a parking deck. It’s not a pyramid. It’s a building with about a 50-year lifespan.

The downtown deck was closed for Bethlehem’s 2024 holiday season, but I saw no problems from that. I visited downtown Bethlehem four, perhaps five times during the last two weeks before Christmas.

I was able to park for free each time, within two blocks of the Hotel Bethlehem.

The only problem I saw was lots of double-parking on Main Street, perhaps from food-delivery drivers.

I was also surprised to see various places that used to be, or could be, anchors of the holiday season closed. Those kiosks near the Central Moravian Church were often closed. The Sun Inn was not always open at peak season. The Moravian Book Shop was closed at 5 p.m. some days.

Presumably these people know their businesses, but it would have been nice for everything to be open at the height of the holidays. Even on Dec. 17, a week before Christmas Eve, not everything was open around 5:30 p.m.

Maybe it’s not worth it, or maybe having more open doors would bring more people downtown.

The plan is to open the new garage before the 2025 holiday season.

Then people can find something else to complain about.