The building\u2019s long closure traces largely to water. Wukitsch said nuisance flooding over the years damaged the public viewing deck and the first floor. With support from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, she said, the organization conducted a geomorphological study and an archaeological investigation in 2024 to measure how much water was entering the building.<\/p>\n
That study found no underground springs were to blame, Wukitsch said, and its recommendations led to a new pump. She said the pump, together with a planned filling of the building\u2019s tanning vats and the Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 removal of a dam on the Monocacy Creek several years ago, has kept the Tannery free of flooding since.<\/p>\n
Asked about the total cost of the project, Wukitsch did not provide a figure but said roughly $2 million still must be raised to finish the restoration and reopen the building to the community.<\/p>\n
Samuelson, who represents the 135th District, which covers Bethlehem, tied the grant to the broader preservation of the Colonial Industrial Quarter. He said he was especially interested in the building\u2019s value as a teaching site for students and tour visitors and called efforts to restore it critical to maintaining the quarter. \u201cThe Tannery was the center of an important industry in its time,\u201d Samuelson said.<\/p>\n
Built in 1761, the Tannery was central to Bethlehem\u2019s early Moravian community, where craftsmen turned about 3,000 hides a year into leather goods such as shoes, boots, saddles and harnesses, according to Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites and a state historical marker at the site. During the American Revolution, the building helped supply leather to the Continental Army. It was restored between 1968 and 1971 and reopened to the public as a museum.<\/p>\n
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites describes the Tannery as the only surviving 18th-century Moravian industrial building in the world. The nonprofit said it has previously restored the building\u2019s doors and windows as part of its ongoing work there.<\/p>\n
Wukitsch said the timing of the restoration matters because it coincides with the development of the adjacent Overlook on History, a glass-and-steel connector being built to join the Luckenbach Mill and the Grist Miller\u2019s House. The release says that the project is expected to open this fall.<\/p>\n
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, a Smithsonian Affiliate, preserves more than 275 years of local history across 20 historic structures. The Tannery is one of several Bethlehem properties included in the Moravian Church Settlements, Bethlehem World Heritage Site, which became the 26th UNESCO World Heritage site in the United States.<\/p>\n
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