The acquisition of a property near FirstEnergy Stadium will help reshape a prominent but underutilized entry point into the city, officials say.<\/p>\n
Council recently voted unanimously to approve an agreement of sale for 2040 Centre Ave., a former bank building next to the stadium, for $505,000.<\/p>\n
The purchase is structured as a shared acquisition between the city and stadium manager Reading Baseball L.P., the ownership group of the Reading Fightin Phils. Each will pay an equal share of the purchase price and control will be integrated into the existing stadium arrangement.<\/p>\n
Council also approved action amending the city\u2019s lease with the stadium to incorporate the parcel into the city-owned stadium complex.<\/p>\n
City officials called the arrangement a sign of good faith and partnership.<\/p>\n
Members of the city\u2019s stadium commission said the acquisition has been years in the making and represents a rare opportunity to secure a key gateway property.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, it\u2019s been a long time,\u201d said Jim Schlegel, chairman of the commission. \u201cThat building has been one that we\u2019ve had our eye on for many, many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schlegel said previous attempts to acquire the property fell through due to funding challenges and other obstacles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019ve been opportunities in the past, but never a good one,\u201d he told council before the vote. \u201cIf we don\u2019t do it now, I\u2019m not sure when an opportunity will come about to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
While no final plans have been set for use of the property, Schlegel said the site could play an important role in shaping visitors\u2019 first impression of the city, particularly those entering the city and stadium from the north.<\/p>\n
The location presents an opportunity to reinforce the city\u2019s identity as Baseballtown, he said. The designation isn\u2019t just a nickname, he noted, it\u2019s actually a federally registered trademark that grew from the city\u2019s deep and continuous relationship with baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the only town in the country that has the name of Baseballtown,\u201d Schlegel said. \u201cAnd when people come in Centre Avenue and they see a sign that says, \u2018Welcome to Baseballtown, Reading, Pennsylvania,\u2019 I think it would really send a statement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Councilman Michael Shorn, speaking as a member of the stadium commission, also urged council to act.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just here to support all five members of the stadium commission,\u201d Shorn said. \u201cPlease, let\u2019s find a way to get this finished and bring that facility back to the city and make it a complete entity for Baseballtown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council members also described the property as a highly visible entry point into Reading.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re coming into the city (on Route 61) that dilapidated bank building is the first thing you see, and it\u2019s a bad example of what we want to see moving forward,\u201d Councilman Raymond Baker said.<\/p>\n
Council President Donna Reed noted the long history tied to the stadium property and said the acquisition will help advance a broader vision of unifying the area under city and stadium control.<\/p>\n
City officials said the purchase, combined with the lease amendment, will strengthen the city\u2019s partnership with the stadium and create new possibilities for future development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was not an easy, straightforward transaction,\u201d Managing Director Jack Gombach said. \u201cIt was a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The acquisition of a property near FirstEnergy Stadium will help reshape a prominent but underutilized entry point into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-185469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}