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Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
Figure 3-31. Reeves Library, view showing details reminiscent
of the Single Brethren’s House (Moravian College Archives).
Howard as architects also reinforced a consistency
and harmony among this generation of buildings.
Figure 3-29. Johnston Hall is a modern gymnasium with
buttressed stone exterior details referencing historic Bethlehem
choir houses (JMA 2009).
Much later in time, but as part of the same mindset,
the Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex was
constructed in a style complementary to the old
campus buildings at the North Main Street campus.
Completed in 2003, it is currently the newest
building on the campus and features materials
similar to the historic buildings, including a red
brick façade and slate roofing (Moravian College
2007:11).
3.7 Moravian College and
the Historic Preservation of
Bethlehem
Figure 3-30. Sketch for Bernhardt and Wilhelm dormitories,
constructed in 1965 and designed by Trautwein and Howard
(Moravian College Archives).
echoed the older campus buildings with use of
stone on the exteriors and blended easily into the
overall campus architectural vocabulary. They
were also sited in small clusters over the hillside,
which fostered an intimate, village-like relationship
among each grouping. The first pair, Rau and
Hassler, was completed in 1960 and featured South
Mountain stone exteriors and hillside views across
the Monocacy Valley. They were designed by the
Trautwein and Howard architectural firm, which
went on to design all the major campus buildings
of the 1960s, including the Haupert Student Union
(1962) and the Bernhardt and Wilhelm dormitories
(1965). Reeves Library, completed in 1967 (figure
3-31), was designed in “German colonial style”
with a mansard roof, belvedere and dormers,
directly referencing the Single Brethren’s House
and the Church Street choir houses (Weinlick
1977:106-113). The repeated use of Trautwein and
Historic preservation, like postmodernism,
became an integral part of Moravian’s campus and
Bethlehem’s revitalization in the 1950s. It preceded,
by nearly a decade, the nationwide awareness of the
importance of preserving the historic resources of
the past, which culminated in 1966 with the passage
of the federal Historic Preservation Act. Thus
Moravian and the City of Bethlehem were ahead
of their time in their awareness and appreciation of
the precious historic resources in their midst.
In 1958, restoration work in downtown Bethlehem
began with the renovation and restoration of Main
Hall (1854) on the Church Street Campus. The
interior was modernized with badly needed new
dormitory spaces on the upper floors and a lounge
and snack bar in the basement, but the first-floor
Blue Parlors, an original and much loved feature,
were retained. The original living room of the hall
had been altered for use as the president’s office,
but this was now restored to its 1854 configuration
and used as a reception room. Meanwhile, the
exterior was returned to an earlier period through
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 3 • College Context • 49