READING, Pa. \u2013\u00a0The Reading Planning Commission on Tuesday night reviewed a sketch plan for a new building to replace an aging elementary school.<\/p>\n
Sketch plans are submitted by the applicants prior to the submission of a preliminary land development plan to allow planning commission members to make comments and recommendations before formal plans are submitted.<\/p>\n
The commission on Tuesday reviewed a sketch plan for a new Riverside Elementary School and parking garage on the site of the existing school at 1400 Centre Ave.<\/p>\n
Jerome Skrincosky, the city\u2019s planning consultant from Hawk Valley Associates, said the site is 3.73 acres, and that the proposed site improvements include the demolition of the existing three-story elementary school and the construction of a new three-story school containing 58,886 square feet of floor area, and a two-level parking facility containing 156 parking spaces.<\/p>\n
Planner William Cinfici recommended that the new building incorporate some of the features of the neoclassical fa\u00e7ade at the entrance along Centre Avenue.<\/p>\n
Suzanne Cody, the newest planning commission member, said that when she thinks about the Riverside property, she thinks about the legacy of architect Fred Muhlenberg.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis does look like a very large modern structure inside of a corridor that is historic,\u201d Cody said. \u201cI think that there’s got to be a way to maintain some of what you\u2019ve already got, even if you are using it as a portal to something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be afraid to knock it down completely without getting a lot of community feedback,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Commission Chairman Wayne Bealer pointed out that there have been several projects involving the Reading School District occurring at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s extraordinary, I think, how the Reading School District has turned itself around and is modernizing its buildings and getting ready for the education of the future,\u201d Bealer said.<\/p>\n
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