Easton arts trail plans to expand into scrapyard
The 14-acre property seen as room for trail to expand, hold bigger outdoor events.
Karl Stirner, the artist whose name is honored by the walking path, once found material and inspiration at the 14-acre former Easton Iron and Metal Co.,
It’s hard to imagine that a former scrapyard, now a collection of shuttered ramshackle buildings along Easton’s Bushkill Drive, was ever part of a thriving artists’ community.
But the bins were once full of aluminum siding and old pipes that provided inspiration and raw material for sculptors like Karl Stirner, whose namesake arts trail is visible through the trees from the old Easton Iron & Metal Co.
The former industrial site could once again become part of the arts community, this time providing space for the Karl Stirner Arts Trail to expand, said trail officials who last week entered into an agreement to purchase the 14-acre property at 1111-1113 Bushkill Drive and 1164 Bushkill Drive.
“[Karl] loved going there and visiting, and a lot of his sculptures use some of the metal taken from the property. I think Karl would be absolutely elated if he knew we were trying to secure that property,” said Jim Toia, director of the Karl Stirner Arts Trail Board.
When the property was listed for sale in the fall, it presented a unique opportunity for stewards of the 2.5-mile trail, which drifts along the Bushkill Creek from the Simon Silk Mill on 13th Street to the base of College Hill.
Members of the Karl Stirner Arts Trail Board started talking about expanding the trail several years ago, but “we never thought it would materialize,” said Richard McAteer, the board’s treasurer.
The Easton Iron & Metal Co. is significant because of its ties to Stirner and its location next to the arts trail named after the German-born sculptor who made Easton his home in 1983.
Stirner’s work has been showcased at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Stirner, who died in 2016, became a major promoter of the Easton arts community, ushering aspiring artists into the area, and serving them as both mentor and real estate agent.
“It’s my heaven,” he said of the Easton Iron & Metal Co. during a 2014 interview with The Morning Call.
Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said the Karl Stirner Arts Trail’s acquisition of the former scrap yard will help connect Easton’s West Ward and College Hill neighborhoods.
“We thought it would be a great opportunity, not only to expand the Karl Stirner Arts Trail, but to also provide activities along the Bushkill Creek,” Panto said.
Although the Karl Stirner Arts Trail Board is responsible for the purchase, the city assisted in connecting arts trail officials with the property owners, Panto said.
The city also owns tracts of right of way along Bushkill Drive, including a former railroad trestle that connects the arts trail to the southern end of the Easton Iron & Metal Co. property, said Easton Director of Public Works Dave Hopkins.
If arts trail officials are successful in acquiring the property, the trestle would be rehabilitated for pedestrians and cyclists.
How far the trail is extended depends on issues like topography and easements, Hopkins said, adding that it’s too soon to tell.
The Easton Iron & Metal Co. has been vacant since 2016, when former owner, Jacob Stein of Forks Township, died. The property has since been listed as being owned by the Jacob Stein Revocable Living Trust.
Stein family attorney John Gross confirmed the agreement of sale with the arts trail board.
As part of the deal, members of the family asked that the cost of the property be kept private at this time, Toia and McAteer said. The arts group plans to pay for the property through private donations.
The trail group has 120 days to conduct its due diligence on the property, which will include hiring an environmental engineer for an assessment, Toia said.
That assessment — the cost has yet to be determined — will be paid for by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The due diligence period can be extended to 180 days if needed, Toia said.
Over the summer, city officials filed 22 code violations against the property, which they said was starting to create hazards along Bushkill Drive. Issues included overgrown vegetation, piles of rubbish, and buildings in disrepair, Stephen Nowroski, Easton’s director of planning and codes, told The Morning Call in July.
On Thursday, Nowroski said the code violations haven’t been addressed.
“As we get closer to a purchase, we will work with the owners to make sure all those code violations are resolved before we purchase the property,” Toia said.
Private donors have been enthusiastic about the potential acquisition, driven by the trail’s growing reputation as an outdoor exhibition space for well-known artists, McAteer said.
Last year, George Ball, chairman and CEO of the W. Atlee Burpee Co. in Warminster, donated 11 sculptures by world-renowned artist Steve Tobin.
Tobin’s works have been installed at the U.S. Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C. His best-known sculpture, “Trinity Root” in New York City was cast from the roots of a sycamore tree that uprooted in front of St. Paul’s Chapel in Lower Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Valued at $2.5 million, the 11 Tobin sculptures were installed along the trail and elsewhere in Easton. McAteer believes the work helped cement the Karl Stirner Arts Trail’s reputation and drive donations.
While the expansion of the trail is something Karl Stirner officials have talked about for years, the need became especially clear during a benefit fundraiser in September, when 150 people gathered on the trail to hear keynote speaker Daniel Weiss, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, who is also a member of the Karl Stirner Arts Advisory Council.
“The current trail is a long strip of blacktop, so programs on the trail can be challenging,” McAteer said.
During the fundraiser, tents were set up along a 200-foot stretch of trail, and attendees had to sit in single-file seating. The fundraiser wasn’t advertised as well as it could have been because there was such limited space trail officials were afraid of overselling the event, McAteer said.
“If the trail is going to be the kind of thing we think it is going to be, it has to be expanded,” he said.
That includes the addition of a large open space like the Easton Iron & Metal property, where a stage for performing arts and expanded seating could go, McAteer said.
“Our intent is not to focus strictly on static art, but to take the trail in a variety of different directions,” McAteer said.
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