Moravian Preservation Master Plan.indb - Society for College and ...

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
Contributing features:
• None identified
Archeological Features
No archeological resources are presently known or
recorded within the Betty Prince Field character area.
However, the western boundary of this character
area is formed by the terrace and upland adjacent
to the Monocacy Creek floodplain. Previous studies
of prehistoric (Native American) archeological sites
in the lower Lehigh valley reveal that sites are
frequently located in the floodlplain and on the
terrace and upland immediately adjacent to the
floodplain of drainages such as Monacacy Creek
(Siegel et al. 1999:68-74). Therefore the archeological
potential for Native American sites within the
Sports Quad area is likely to be moderate to high.
Archeological resources associated with the
former milling industry may also be present in this
character area.
Signifi cance and Integrity Evaluation
More information is needed to determine historic
significance of this space and hence, integrity to
that period.
Campus Ring Character Area
The Campus Ring character area is notable as an
example of the pressures that the need for continued
facility expansion and parking accommodation
can put on a historic neighborhood surrounding a
thriving college campus (figure 5-140). This character
area includes all of the college-owned properties
north of Elizabeth Avenue, south of Locust and east
of Monocacy, south of Laurel Street, and the area
from the back of Colonial Hall, east to Palmer Street,
comprising approximately 10-12 city blocks.
Natural Systems and Features
Natural features within the character area include
the gently sloping topography of the hill that is
topped by Comenius Hall and the dramatic fall of
land from the bluff above Monocacy Creek.
Contributing features:
• Topography
Spatial Organization
The Campus Ring area is organized by a grid of
streets that characterizes nineteenth and twentieth
century urban development patterns in Bethlehem.
This pattern is typical of many American cities and
suburbs developed before World War II. The grid is
organized almost perfectly to magnetic north and
is fairly easy to understand and navigate.
Within this grid are the remnants of the residential
neighborhood that once surrounded the historic
core of Moravian College, being the block between
Monocacy Street and Main, Elizabeth and Locust,
and the west half of the block opposite containing
Colonial Hall (figure 5-141). Most structures within
the neighborhood were either Queen Anne or
American Four-Square dwellings sited about 15
feet from the street right-of-way, creating a tidy
and pedestrian-scaled streetspace. Incremental
acquisition and subsequent removal of these
buildings has created a streetscape characterized by
an open, undifferentiated landscape containing both
historic and modern buildings, dominated in areas
by open-air parking lots (figure 5-142). Buildings
constructed in place of the historic dwellings were
designed with broad setbacks, usually presented as
objects in the landscape rather than contributing to
the existing streetscape (figure 5-143).
Contributing features:
• Remnants of urban grid and streetscape
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 5 • Cultural Landscapes • 133