Work has begun on a repair and maintenance project of the bandshell in City Park.
The three-fold project will include electrical upgrades, a new roof and water sealing of the stage at a total cost of $154,020.
The city contracted with Richard L. Sensenig Company, Ephrata, for $83,270 for the roof work, and with H.B. Frazer Company, Reading, for electric work at a cost of $63,750.
Funding will come from the city’s capital improvement project budget, city officials said.
The project was initially envisioned on a larger scale and was to be funded by the city’s pool of federal Community Development Block Grant funds, officials said. However, due to federal funding cuts, Mayor Eddie Moran authorized the shift in funding and the project was scaled back to include the minimum repairs needed to preserve the structure and maintain its functionality.
A crew from Sensenig Roofing in Ephrata works on the restoration of the City Park Fireman’s Memorial Bandshell on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Officials said interns from the mayor’s Summer Youth Program assisted in cleaning out abandoned materials and items on the premises.
The city public works department will repair the weather-damaged concrete and repaint and repair the restrooms at the structure.
Dedicated in 1939 as the Fireman’s Memorial Bandshell, the structure was built during the Great Depression using federal funding through the Public Works Administration.
The bandshell was last renovated in 2010 at a cost of about $1 million.
It was host to the Berks Arts Council’s summer concert series for decades, beginning in1991 and ending after the final concert of 2022.