Berks plans to purchase former Wells Fargo Penn Street building for government center<\/a><\/p>\nBarnhardt said the effort grew out of a multiyear space allocation study examining current and future county needs.<\/p>\n
Officials initially explored acquiring the former bank building next to the courthouse, he said, but the cost and existing tenants made that option impractical.<\/p>\n
County officials said the courthouse and services center have become increasingly overcrowded over the years as departments expanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had people scattered all over the building,\u201d Barnhardt said. \u201cJust the organic growth since 1993 when that building was constructed.\u201d<\/p>\n
As architects and engineers evaluated the courthouse, officials said the estimated cost of renovations climbed rapidly as more extensive infrastructure issues were uncovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number went from about $35 million to do the courthouse,\u201d Medaglia said. \u201cAs we started digging, that doubled, and then it doubled again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The county now estimates courthouse renovations could exceed $130 million, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a major failure of one of our internal systems, whether it\u2019s plumbing, whether it\u2019s electric HVAC, we would have to vacate the entire building,\u201d Medaglia said. \u201cAnd then we\u2019re left with, \u2018Where do we go with an operation of the courts?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the proposal, about 300 nonjudicial county employees would move into 600 Penn St., including offices such as the commissioners, solicitor, purchasing and budget departments. That would free space in the county services center for expanded court operations and judicial functions.<\/p>\n
The courthouse would remain standing and operational in limited ways during that period, with ceremonial courtrooms and some judicial functions continuing there, Medaglia said, describing it as one of downtown Reading\u2019s defining landmarks.<\/p>\n
The long-term plan, officials said, is to eventually renovate the courthouse in phases over another decade or more while preserving its historic Art Deco architecture and courtrooms.<\/p>\n
Council President Donna Reed and Councilman Christopher Miller emphasized the courthouse\u2019s architectural significance and symbolic importance to the city and county.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so incredibly interesting for the Art Deco architecture,\u201d Miller said, later adding, \u201cIt is one of the most prized buildings in the city of Reading.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reed stressed the importance of maintaining a strong partnership between the city and county, but questioned how the city would offset the loss of property tax revenue if the building becomes county-owned and tax-exempt.<\/p>\n
Barnhardt said he would bring that discussion back to the county commissioners.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs these discussions continue,\u201d Moran said in his statement, \u201cthe city will also focus on ensuring the county continues paying its fair share toward supporting the downtown and services, infrastructure and investments that make it successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barnhardt said negotiations remain preliminary. The county has not yet completed an appraisal or agreed to the final terms of a sale.<\/p>\n
If negotiations proceed successfully, officials hope to close on the property by Sept. 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading officials have raised concerns about the potential loss of tax revenue and economic development opportunities tied to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-191120","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","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\/191120","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=191120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Berks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/REG-L-BerksCountyServicesCenter-01.jpeg\")
Berks County officials say they are looking to reorganize county offices and address worsening mechanical and structural issues inside the 1931 courthouse and county services center. (Bill Uhrich – Reading Eagle)<\/p>\n