Morris Black Designs Leads a Team of Local Contractors on New Kitchen for Historic Bethlehem’s Kemerer Museum

October 28th, 2024 |

Bethlehem, Pa. October 15, 2024 – First impression count, especially when it comes to home and hospitality.

Bethlehem’s long legacy of hospitality is explored in The Kemerer Museum of Decorative Art’s latest exhibition titled “Checking In? Bethlehem’s Alluring Accommodations”. The exhibition showcases the city’s most iconic lodgings and warm hospitality.

Coupled with the new UNESCO World Heritage inscription, the exhibition will welcome regional, national and international visitors. Each new visitor brings an opportunity to make a positive first impression of their experience in the Christmas City.

This flow of new visitors is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, as it has at other UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Pennsylvania’s only other two destinations to have earned the coveted bade of honor: Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, and architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s legendary masterpiece “Fallingwater” in Mill Run, PA.

To burnish those countless first impressions of Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley, several local companies have come together to build a much-needed new kitchen and catering center at one of Historic Bethlehem’s foremost hospitality venues: The Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts.

Event hosting revenue is mission-critical for museums

Located in the heart of Bethlehem’s historic district, the Kemerer Museum is house in three interconnected mid-1800s homes featuring exhibits, period rooms and galleries showcasing paintings, furniture, clothing, bohemian glass, fine china and silver. Pennsylvania’s only museum dedicated to the decorative arts and one of only 16 in the US, the Kemerer offers a rare glimpse into the evolution of local fashion, style and design spanning three centuries.

Hosting events is a financial necessity for most museums, and the Kemerer is no exception. The museum provides the community with special event rentals for weddings, anniversary celebrations, rehearsal dinners, baby showers, and celebrations of life. “Hospitality helps keep our doors open and provides an opportunity to showcase our preservation efforts. It supports our mission and allows us to share our community’s unique history,” said LoriAnn Wukitsch, president and CEO of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS), the nonprofit responsible for managing eight historic sites that are either part of the Moravian Church Settlements – Bethlehem, or supporting properties dotted over 10 acres in the historic district.

“A significant amount of our entertaining is done at the Kemerer Museum through the bequest of Annie Kemerer and many generous donors throughout the last five decades,” says Wukitsch. “The former kitchen was over 50 years old, undersized and tired. Updated facilities were needed to properly provide hospitality to the volume of new regional, national and international guests that will be visiting Bethlehem throughout the coming decades.”

Bethlehem-born Morris Black answers with idea, action plan

Morris Black Designs, a custom kitchen and bath remodeler with deep Bethlehem roots, learned of that need in early 2024. Their parent company, Morris Black & Sons, Inc., was founded in Bethlehem in 1908 and has been continuously serving regional residential, commercial, institutional and industrial customers for more than 116 years.

Mark Doman, sales manager for Morris Black Designs, met with LoriAnn Wukitsch in March 2024 to discuss the needs and potential pathways to relieve the Kemerer’s outdated kitchen and prep space. “It was a good sharing session. Lots of vision but, like many non-profits, short on financial viability. I took the idea of a team effort to our Morris Black leadership, and they liked the idea of coordinating a community-wide collaborative of like-minded contractors,” Doman said.

Doman then went to work selling the Kemerer cause and soon recruited a cadre of community-minded contractors and suppliers willing to commit their specialized skills and products to the project. Key contributors include Allentown Appliances, Bethlehem Gallery of Floors, Cosentino Importers, Diefenderfer Electrical Contractors, Eastern Surfaces Fine Custom Countertops, Wurth-Baer Supply, Fessenden Hall, Inc., and East Lawn Plumbing Supply Company of Nazareth.

From vision to viability: service capacity up to 200 guests

Working on any centuries-old structure is no slam dunk. But despite the construction challenges of a foot-thick stone foundation, wonky walls, petrified wood and horsehair plaster, the new facility has emerged as an eye-appealing asset to support the Kemerer’s future as a premier hospitality venue steeped in American history.

“The project’s scope actually includes two adjoining spaces,” says Doman. “The original kitchen and the fireplace room comprise about 280 square feet which could be utilized for optimized workflow. Our plan transforms both into attractive and ergonomically efficient workspaces capable of facilitating full-service catering for up to 200 guests.”

Project features include Morris Black-manufactured custom cabinetry with a contemporary slab door design, slide-out shelves and undercounter lighting; quartz countertops; two GE Profile refrigerators; two commercial-grade stainless steel sinks and energy-efficient LED lighting.

The majority of the costs have been donated by the participating contractors and one long-time donor of the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, the Bealer-Greene family.

Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the contractor collaborative, the vision has been realized and the Kemerer project is now on-target for completion in early October.

Real value is in supporting community and future

“As Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites is now in the forever business, we’re thankful for the continued support of Morris Black, the contracting community, and our guests who fill our historic sites to learn about history with a strong touch of hospitality,” says Wukitsch. “The future is bright!”

When pressed for a dollar value on a project of this magnitude, Doman replied: “For all of us at Morris Black, the real value is in sharing our passion for kitchen design, and in working together with trusted community partners. Plus, we’re helping to enhance an important treasure of Lehigh Valley history. How can you put a price on that?”

Read the article on the Morris Black website.

About Morris Black Designs and Morris Black & Sons, Inc.:

Morris Black Designs is a premier kitchen and bath remodeling provider offering extensive design and installation services for residential, commercial and institutional customers throughout the Greater Lehigh Valley. Morris Black Designs is a division of Morris Black & Sons, Inc. a custom cabinetry manufacturer and building supplies company serving homeowners and contractors throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In continuous service since 1908, Morris Black and Sons, and its Morris Black Designs showroom, are located in Allentown, PA and at www.morrisblack.com.

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