National Museum of Industrial History

One of the old steel buildings at Bethlehem has been protected, and is the planned future home of the National Museum of Industrial History. The museum was part of the original plan for preserving the site, established by Bethlehem Steel before the company went bankrupt in 2002.  It is an affiliate museum of the Smithsonian Institution, but it is still a ways from existing as a visitable museum. Most of the collection is stored unrestored in another building owned by the Sands. There are hopes that the museum might even expand into the other impressive and unused buildings nearby. If this were to happen, the museum could really match its ambition, and reach the scale that its name implies: The National Museum Industrial History. While the future for the museum is far from certain, the various efforts in Bethlehem are the most extensive attempt to preserve and interpret the legacy of Old Steel in the nation.