BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The city of Bethlehem and the Bethlehem Housing Authority will host the Dutko Party in the Park from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, celebrating the resident-driven makeover of Dutko Park at 951 Pembroke Road.
The free community event marks the completion of a $500,000 federal Choice Neighborhoods Planning grant that funded two years of work with Pembroke residents and neighborhood stakeholders to reimagine the area around Pembroke Village, a public housing development built in 1941 that the city describes as its oldest.
Because parking can be difficult in the area, the city is reserving spots for attendees in a lot diagonally across from the park, between East Washington Avenue and Cayuga Street.
The one-way lot must be entered from East Washington Avenue, and it will be posted as “no parking” for the general public to keep spaces open for event attendees, Sara Satullo, the city’s deputy director of community development, said in an email.
The park itself has no on-site parking, and reaching it from the lot requires crossing Stefko Boulevard — a road that project planning documents have described as a critical arterial route with a history of traffic accidents.
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Public parking is available in that lot as needed outside the event, Satullo said, but she described Dutko as “more of a walk-to park” and a gateway into the Choice Neighborhood. Community engagement found that many residents cross the park daily on their way to school, work, shopping and bus stops along Stefko and Pembroke, she said.
Dutko Park is the second park upgraded under the city’s 40-in-10: Every Park in Ten Years Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which aims to improve Bethlehem’s more than 40 parks over the next decade, according to the city.
The project added new walking pathways, seating, game-playing tables and climbing equipment to the triangle-shaped park, which is bounded by Stefko Boulevard, Pembroke Road and Washington Avenue.
Before the makeover, the 1.5-acre park held little beyond a stone memorial honoring its namesake, Nicholas Dutko. The work was funded by $150,000 in Choice Neighborhoods Early Action money and $110,000 in city recreation funding approved by Bethlehem City Council in April 2025.
A bronze memorial plaque honoring Nicholas Dutko stands at Dutko Park in Bethlehem ahead of a community celebration scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 19. (Credit: Jai Smith / Lehigh Daily)
Some of the new pathways were laid where foot traffic had already worn the grass bare — routes urban planners call desire paths, Satullo said. The upgrades are intended to make the park safer to cut through and to encourage people passing by to linger, she said.
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Pedestrian safety upgrades accompanied the park improvements. City officials said hundreds of children cross through the park on their way to nearby schools during the school year, and safety along Stefko Boulevard and Pembroke Road emerged early as a top community concern in the Choice planning process.
Traffic signals at the intersections of Stefko and Pembroke were upgraded with pedestrian hand signals and countdown timers, and crosswalks surrounding the park are set to be repainted before the start of the 2026-27 school year, the city said.
The sidewalks bordering the park present a more complicated picture. Some panels appear to have been repaired, but sections remain uneven — the park sits partially on a slope, and roots from mature trees have lifted portions of the pavement, a familiar condition in older neighborhoods across the Lehigh Valley.
The uneven surfaces could pose challenges for visitors who use wheelchairs or have other mobility limitations. Under Bethlehem’s city code, sidewalk maintenance generally falls to the owner of the adjoining property, and Satullo said the city monitors the sidewalks around its facilities and replaces them as funding allows.
No further work at the park is planned because the project’s available funding has been spent, Satullo said, though a second phase of upgrades could follow if the city wins a Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant.
Repairing pavement heaved by roots often requires trimming the roots or removing the tree, Satullo said — and because the project is federally funded, any tree removal would need federal approval through an environmental review.
The mature trees, which she said give the park a peaceful feel despite the busy roads around it, may also serve as bat habitat, making their removal closely regulated.
Working with the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, whose Washington Avenue Enhanced Bus Service route runs along Stefko Boulevard, the city also upgraded the three bus stops surrounding the park, adding two new shelters on Stefko and a bench on Pembroke.
City officials said the changes will benefit transit riders at what they described as a gateway to the neighborhood.
The celebration caps the planning phase of a greater effort. In September 2023, Bethlehem was one of 14 communities nationwide awarded a $500,000 Choice Neighborhoods Planning grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop a transformation plan for the 196-unit Pembroke Village and the surrounding Stefko community.
Completing the plan is a precursor to applying for a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant worth $30 million to $50 million. The federal program requires a one-for-one replacement of all Pembroke Village units along with the development of additional mixed-income housing.
Questions about the event can be directed to Satullo at [email protected] or 610-419-9003.
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