Kemerer Museum Expansion

Construction Value:
$2,450,000
Client:
Historic Bethlehem Partnership
Architect:
SaylorGregg Architects

This 5,000 SF 2-story addition with basement was constructed to safely store the Kemerer Museum’s 40,000 artifacts, and give scholars and amateur historians a convenient space to study the objects. Requiring approval by the City’s Historic and Architectural Review Board, this project faced initial objections because the desire for a building that dries quickly after a rainfall called for fiber CEM rainscreen exterior façade panels which have a contemporary appearance. The challenges of the project involved underpinning three sides of the historic building with stone foundations dating from the early 1800’s, protecting existing museum artifacts during construction and completing the work in a very tight space surrounded by heavy pedestrian, school and vehicular traffic. The need for exact temperature and humidity levels meant installing a specially designed and equipped HVAC system.