tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266566846399659219.post7284021521163677781..comments2024-01-16T00:30:02.493-05:00Comments on That's the Press, Baby: Department Store Building of the Week, Vol. 22Davisullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02871644412923946894noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266566846399659219.post-43735354864474021202008-12-27T13:57:00.000-05:002008-12-27T13:57:00.000-05:00The false exterior of Orr's did indeed extend to t...The false exterior of Orr's did indeed extend to the side. I did a Google image search and came up with a photo supposedly from 1980 (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/121/388529486_fecc21a7f8.jpg) that also shows the large seasonal wreath. I was often in Orr's as a kid in Bethlehem, and when I visit with family we sometimes explore the various shops that are there today (the interior is all connected on several levels, although there are individual storefronts on Main Street as the current photo shows). <BR/><BR/>Bethlehem's downtown was dying in the early 1970s (in part because of the Whitehall Mall and the newer adjacent Lehigh Valley Mall, on US 22 between Allentown and Bethlehem) and two projects were undertaken in the mid-'70s to remedy this: closing a few blocks of Broad Street to create a pedestrian mall, and giving Main Street a "Victorian" decorative veneer via (as I recall) a federal grant. Neither was effective; Broad Street was finally reopened a few years ago.<BR/><BR/>Of possible interest: Down Main Street (across from Hotel Bethlehem) is the Moravian Book Shop, one of the oldest retailers in the country (since 1745). As recently as the early 1970s it consisted of a single storefront (I bought my copy of Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book there). Today it's many interconnected buildings taking up half a block, and it sells a lot more than books and CDs, although reasonably priced items are scarce.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com