{"id":296798,"date":"2026-09-30T11:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/296798\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T11:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:02:14","slug":"reading-unveils-87-million-riverside-elementary-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/296798\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading unveils $87 million Riverside Elementary plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading School District officials are advancing plans for a nearly $87 million replacement for the Riverside Elementary School building.<\/p>\n

Jamie Lynch of CHA, the district\u2019s construction management team, updated the school board recently on the project that calls for building a new school on the existing Riverside property while keeping the current school open.<\/p>\n

\"RiversideRiverside Elementary School, 1400 Centre Ave., was constructed in 1925 and enlarged in 1942. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Lynch said the planned three-story, 118,000-square-foot building will be designed to address traffic, safety and space limitations at the existing school and will serve as many as 850 students in prekindergarten through fourth grade.<\/p>\n

The existing Riverside, which Lynch said is about 80,000 square feet and four stories, would then be demolished and the remainder of the site completed, including a two-level parking structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation first, construction second,\u201d he said, describing the challenge of building in close proximity to an operating elementary school.<\/p>\n

Officials said the new school is targeted to open for the 2029-30 school year, with the entire project expected to be finished in 2030.<\/p>\n

\"ConceptualConceptual plans for a new Riverside Elementary School were unveiled at the Reading School Board’s recent committee of the whole meeting. (Courtesy of Reading School District)<\/p>\n

Lynch said the project is estimated at just under $87 million. That figure includes about $58 million for the building, $4 million in site costs and other construction costs. It also includes demolition of the existing school and a contingency fund of slightly more than $5 million.<\/p>\n

The district hopes to put the project out for bids and award contracts in fall 2027, followed by roughly two years of construction, Lynch said.<\/p>\n

The hillside site, which drops about 60 feet from Centre Avenue to North Front Street, is among the project\u2019s biggest design and construction challenges, Lynch said.<\/p>\n

Officials said the design seeks to improve traffic flow around the site and address safety concerns involving student drop-off and pickup.<\/p>\n

\"ConceptualConceptual plans for a new Riverside Elementary School were unveiled at the Reading School Board’s recent committee of the whole meeting. (Courtesy of Reading School District)<\/p>\n

In 2015, children were injured in two separate accidents outside Riverside within about two months, according to Reading Eagle reports.<\/p>\n

In January 2015, sisters ages 11 and 12 were struck by a car while crossing Centre Avenue in the school zone after getting off a BARTA bus. In March of that year, an SUV jumped the curb near Centre Avenue and Pike Street, striking an 8-year-old Riverside student who was walking with his sister.<\/p>\n

Plans developed by SGA, the project architect, include a two-level parking structure that would provide about 90 secure staff spaces accessed from North Front Street. Its upper level, entered from Pike Street, would have about 60 spaces and a loop for parent drop-off. Buses would use a separate drop-off area along North Front Street.<\/p>\n

Architect Eric Weiss said separating bus and parent traffic is intended to reduce congestion and improve student safety.<\/p>\n

Board members raised concerns about speeding and traffic along North Front Street, particularly near Amity Street.<\/p>\n

Lynch said a traffic study has not yet been conducted specifically for the development, but the issue will be examined during the city\u2019s land development review. He said possible measures could include a stop sign, if warranted, or traffic-calming measures such as speed tables.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something we can prioritize in our land development process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"ConceptualConceptual plans for a new Riverside Elementary School show separate parent and school bus drop-off areas intended to improve traffic flow and increase student safety. (Courtesy of Reading School District)<\/p>\n

Lynch said the building also is being designed with energy-efficiency measures, including LED lighting, daylight controls, high-efficiency boilers and water heaters and low-flow plumbing fixtures.<\/p>\n

The structure would also be capable of supporting rooftop solar panels, he said. Lynch estimated a solar array would cost about $400,000 and could provide 20% to 25% of the school\u2019s electricity during its first year. A state Solar for Schools grant could potentially cover about half the cost.<\/p>\n

Board member Melissa Eggert and others reacted enthusiastically to the early designs.<\/p>\n

Eggert, a retired educator, said she spent 30 years working at Riverside and praised the increased natural light and safety improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks terrific,\u201d she said of the plans. \u201cI think it\u2019s really taken a lot of the issues into consideration to make it safer and just a more pleasant atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading School District officials are advancing plans for a nearly $87 million replacement for the Riverside Elementary School…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,227,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-296798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-education","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\/296798","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=296798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}