The Rinek Rope factory site is a historically significant manufacturing site that Lafayette College has purchased and is planning to redevelop. It is located on Bushkill Drive between Lafayette College and the City of Easton, Pennsylvania. The location offers an opportunity to connect these two entities and redevelop the area.
While the college’s current plan is to largely turn this site into storage space, this poses many problems as it both ignores the historical heritage of the site and also does not provide the best use of the space. However, when looking into the redevelopment of this site there are several problems with both the site, Easton, and Lafayette College that need to be considered and addressed.
As it currently sits, the Rinek Rope Factory does not have a use, and is in very poor condition. The site is historically significant, so the college has deemed its preservation important making demolition not an option. The site has not been in use for very long, so the condition of the buildings is poor and potentially hazardous. An additional issue for Lafayette College when attempting to expand or redevelop is the strained relation it has with the city of Easton. Currently, there is not a lot of common space that both of these entities can coexist in, with it being clear from town hall meetings that the city feels the college is expanding far beyond its limits. However, the reverse of this dilemma is also true. As Lafayette College continues to attempt to expand, the city of Easton does not have the hotel space or infrastructure to house the influx of people coming to visit for things such as campus tours, interviews, and family events such as parents’ weekend. Finally, Easton Emergency Services has stressed the need for a station close to campus, as well as college hill, with this site’s location being optimal for their needs. The redevelopment of the Rinek Rope site could serve as a change in this narrative, as it has massive potential to both serve the Lafayette College and Easton communities.
All of these issues with Lafayette College and Easton lead to our proposal for the redevelopment of the Rinek Rope site. The Site is currently divided into 3 buildings, as well as an open air parking area in the rear. For our proposal, Building A would be converted into a hotel. This hotel would provide more places for people to stay while visiting Easton, especially families of students, as well as those of prospective students as the college continues to expand. Building C of the complex would function as a café, which would provide a space for people to eat while staying at the hotel, walking the Karl Stirner Arts Trail, Lafayette students, and Easton residents. Building D would function as a 2-part space. The first half of the space would function as an ambulance port for Easton Emergency services, while the second half of the space would serve as storage space for the college, as this is also a pressing need. And Building B, the open air parking lot, will be a space used for outdoor venue.
Each of these buildings will be redeveloped using adaptive reuse, with the project focusing on three adaptive reuse hotel projects within the United States that will be used as case studies. These case studies will serve as a framework for the development of the Rinek Hotel.
- Nashville’s Union Station Hotel, Tennessee – Old Train Station
- Detroit’s Foundation Hotel, Michigan – Michigan’s oldest fire department
- The Emma, San Antonio, Texas – Pearl’s Brewhouse
While we believe this is the best possible solution for the redevelopment of the Rinek Rope complex, it is not without its challenges. The first challenge is funding, as the budget for the plan is 2 million dollars supplied from the college. The second challenge is getting the approval of our proposal by the school. Our report hopes to convince the college to become less attached to turning the complex into a glorified closet.
While these challenges may seem daunting at first, they are not insurmountable. To overcome the challenge of underfunding , a McCartney dorm situation could be established, with a separate contractor running the site. To ensure approval, a proper pitch will have to be given of our proposal. The importance of our proposal will have to be stressed and how our proposal solves issues that the current plan does not.
We plan to use adaptive reuse in the Rinek Rope complex to turn the former industrial site into a hotel, café, and mixed-use space for Lafayette and Easton Emergency Services. We believe that this will provide the maximum possible utility and value to this site while also fixing some of the problems of Easton and Lafayette.
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