The Berkshire Mall is all we have left, and if we let it go we deserve what comes next (“End of an era,” Reading Eagle, Oct. 16).
It’s already built. It has thriving small businesses. It makes money. But it needs repairs. So in steps an out-of-town developer.
People who don’t live here, don’t shop at the mall and don’t know a Pagoda from a Boscov’s have decided it’s more profitable to destroy the mall than to fix it, like the Fairgrounds Square Mall before it.
We are already drowning in “development,” yet local bureaucrats and greed-addled developers maintain a deranged obsession with demolishing what is likely the last place in Berks County where someone can freely walk around in air conditioning without spending money.
Where the Berkshire Mall stands with its spiraling stairs, glowing neon lights and soothing fountains of YouTube fame, these people will erect a strip of gray, boxy corporate slop.
This “mixed-use, open air” nightmare will not last 50 years. It will, however, be an outdated eyesore from the moment it opens.
There will be no fond memories or common experiences. There will be no aesthetics or architecture. It will be bland and sterile. It will be designed for AI-powered price gouging and little else. It will be owned and managed by people who love QR codes, self-checkout and automated customer service.
It’s already happened everywhere else. I guess we’ve decided it’s our turn.
Leroy Scheidt
Mount Penn