Local civic leaders presented plans last week to renovate the Bethlehem Rose Garden. The plot of land at the corner of EIghth Avenue and West Union Boulevard currently has a bandshell, a playground and a log cabin said to be a replica of the first log home built in Bethlehem. A farmer’s market is held there every Saturday morning.

Katie Stafford of the Mount Airy Neighborhood Association (MANA) and her daughter Dalia asked Bethlehem City Council to support renovation of the Rose Garden. She said the park has not been renovated since 1930. “There never has been an integrated plan for the park,” said Stafford.

Mary Toulouse, also of the Mount Airy Neighborhood Association, showed council members a diagram of the proposed renovation of the garden as part of her presentation seeking city support for the project.

Christine Roysdon, in a later interview, gave some background for the project. She said $300,000 was the amount that planners thought would be needed to renovate what she called the “lion’s share,” or the core of the Rose Garden. An earlier grant, according to Roysdon, allowed MANA to hire a planning firm which produced the plan shown by Toulouse. “We were also able to buy some trees and some bicycle racks for the park,” said Roysdon. She said the bike racks will be installed very soon.

She said the funding request was the beginning of the conversation. She said she hoped the city would think of the best way to fund the project.

Roysdon also provided some of the historic background of the park. She said the property was the site of a private prep school, the Bethlehem Preparatory School, which went out of business in the late 1920s. She said the city bought the property and later razed the school, which she thought had been located where the current macadamized pavement is now – in front of the band shell.

Remaining today are two weathered gate- posts inscribed as being the gift a long-graduated class. Recently, local citizens, armed with spades, prepared beds for flower gardens to line the pathway between the two gateposts. Royston said plans call for the flower gardens be dedicated to native plants.

In the 1930s the city built the bandshell, according to Roysdon.

Plans are for bowered walkways leading from the core area (near the band shell) to far reaches of the city-block sized park. A water feature is contemplated, but exactly what type has not been decided by the planners.

The MANA-sponsored Farmer’s Garden will continue to operate on the north side of the park.

The many trees in the Rose Garden have attracted the attention of young Bethlehem Area School District scholars who have identified trees and done science-related projects such as calculating the carbon value of trees.

“The Nitschmann MS students consider the Rose Garden to be ‘their park,’” said Roysdon. She said students have celebrated Arbor Day at the park.

One Christopher Columbus memorial and several war memorials create pensive moments for visitors who pause to read their messages to later generations.

“Overall,” said Roysdon, “we feel we have a pretty good handle on what people want in the park.” She said there have been several community meetings about the future of the Rose Garden.

In a public hearing prior to the start of the regular meeting, businessman Jignesh Patel and his lawyer, Matthew Anderson, explained to council their desire to transfer a restaurant liquor license to his market store at 831-833 Linden St. in Bethlehem. This is the Linden Street Food Market at the corner of East Goepp and Linden streets, about two blocks from Liberty HS.

If Patel, who said he bought the business in July, gets the necessary approval to transfer the liquor license, which he has already purchased at an auction, he will need, by existing rules, to allocate room for a 30-seat capacity space in the store and agree to sell no more than two beers that are consumed on the site.

Patel and Anderson faced a gauntlet of questions from council members:

Q: What security system would you have? A: At least eight cameras.

Q: What is the maximum amount of alcohol you will sell to a customer? A: 190 ounces of beer or 3 liters of wine.

Q: How many bottles of beer can you sell to a customer? A: Two six-packs or one 12-pack.

Q: Do you have plans for other renovations? A: No

Q: Will minors be allowed in liquor serving area? A: No

Q: If you expand your hours, how would you notify the public? A: There is no technical reason to notify.

One Councilman, Bryan Callahan, thanked Patel for investing in Bethlehem. Councilman William Reynolds, who later was the lone vote opposed to the needed resolution, asked, “Is this a good thing for the neighborhood?”

“The neighbors are excited about the convenience of picking up [alcohol],” said Anderson. He said 182 notifications of intent had been made to residents within a 500-foot radius of the address.

Later in the regular meeting the resolution for transfer of the liquor license passed 6–1.

A proposed new ordinance amending parking penalty increases met with extended discussion, but was withdrawn by the Council President Adam Waldron and postponed until the Nov. 7 meeting.

In a moment of comity and civility, council congratulated Mayor Robert Donchez on the occasion of becoming a grandfather.