Old Bethlehem Steel HQ Gets Demolished

Photo courtesy of the Times of Northwest Indiana

Martin Tower, the former headquarters of Pennsylvania-based Bethlehem Steel Corp., was demolished Saturday, marking the end of the company that preceded ArcelorMittal in Porter County’s Burns Harbor. Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report the area will be used for a new redevelopment project.

Bethlehem Steel Corp. expanded its footprint to Porter County when it built the Bethlehem Steel mill on 4,000 acres of undeveloped duneland in Burns Harbor, according to the publication.

The company was once the second largest steelmaker and largest shipbuilder in the nation and expanded in 1962 when it started construction on the new steel mill that is now ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor. The publication says Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001 during the import crisis that shut down many other established American steel companies.

Bethlehem-based Industrial Archives & Library told the publication the demolition of Martin Tower is "emblematic of the decline and fall of this once mighty company."

Read the full story from The Times of Northwest Indiana by clicking here.