READING, Pa. – Inside city hall Monday night, Berks County leaders walked Reading City Council through a proposal centered around 600 Penn St.
During its Committee of the Whole meeting, council heard the presentation from administrative officials to clarify the county’s preliminary plans to purchase the former Meridian Bank/Wells Fargo building.
Kevin S. Barnhardt, the county’s chief operations officer, explained that as the county has been moving ahead with the purchase and renovation plans, there have been rumors and misinformation circulating on social media.
Barnhardt emphasized that the county is planning to also renovate and keep the current historical courthouse, which was built in 1931.
Barnhardt said the county approached local developer Alan Shuman, who currently owns 600 Penn St.
“I want to just caution everyone, this is early in its stages,” Barnhardt said. “There are a lot of moving pieces; a lot of things have to be worked out. But with the rumor mills started, we needed to come out fully with this effort.”
“We are only in preliminary discussions,” Barnhardt added. “We haven’t even hired an appraiser yet.”
Barnhardt said the overall plans include vacating most of the county functions from the current services center to make room for all court-related functions and to create a judicial center.
Other departments and county services could be moved to the 600 Penn St. building and the courthouse after significant renovations.
Berks County administrative officials present information about a potential building purchase to Reading City Council.
WFMZ-TV | Chad Blimline
“Our financial team is hard at work with this, and our attorneys are hard at work at this,” Barnhardt said. “We’re hoping that if everything goes through, and everyone’s terms and conditions are met, we could close on September 30.”
“We believe this is a positive for the county as well as the city,” he added. “We will be occupying a very suitable place on Penn Street with nearly 300 employees.”
“We want to be part of the dynamic future of the downtown Reading,” Barnhardt said. “We want to be part of the revitalization, and we feel as though putting 300 of our employees on Penn Street will start to make that happen and will light a spark for rejuvenating Penn Street.”
Larry Medaglia, deputy COO, said he is also aware that there has been criticism of the county on social media regarding these plans.
“The courthouse is not going to be left to fall into disrepair, and it’s not going to be mothballed,” Medaglia said. “The renovations on 600 Penn Street should complete by the end of 2027, so we’ll be able to move the departments out of the services center, and then it’ll be another year and a half to do the renovations in the services center.”
County leaders say the courthouse cannot be fixed while it is in use.
“You can’t open walls up and change out pipes while people are trying to operate courts,” Barnhardt said. “So the cost avoidance is there is a big difference in the cost.”
He emphasized that the eventual renovations at the courthouse will preserve the character and nature of the iconic structure.
“We don’t intend to abandon the building,” Medaglia added. “We don’t intend to change the character of it, and we don’t intend to sell it or lease it or anything else. It is part of the fabric of downtown Reading.”
“It was remodeled somewhat in 1993 when the services center was opened, but it’s really 100-year-old infrastructure in that building, and we need to have it replaced,” Barnhardt said.
Council President Donna Reed said council appreciates the detailed plans.
“Thank you very much because the courthouse has always been one of the heartbeats of the downtown,” Reed said.
“This would have been a prime building staying on the tax rolls because once it becomes a government building, it comes off the tax rolls,” she said.
“How do you see all this falling together, and is there a way with the loss of that those tax dollars we might be able to see either services or payment in lieu of taxes?” Reed asked.
Barnhardt said that the anticipated appraised value could possibly generate about $500,000 in a transfer tax for the city.
“Going forward, we are aware of the loss of the tax revenue,” Barnhardt said. “That’s something we’d certainly be inclined to talk about. We would like to keep that door open if the administration is agreeable to that, and if the commissioners are open, we can have that discussion.”
“We don’t want to hurt the school district or the city in this endeavor. We want to improve county operations,” Barnhardt said.