Reading is highlighting major upgrades to four city park fieldhouses, renovated as part of the Reading Fieldhouses Reimagined project.<\/p>\n
The $17.9 million initiative is modernizing community recreation spaces while reducing energy costs and preserving historic structures, said Bethany Ayers Fisher, city sustainability manager.<\/p>\n
Open house events at the fieldhouses in Baer, Keffer, Pendora and Schlegel parks are showcasing the results, from improved heating and cooling systems to better lighting, insulation and accessibility.<\/p>\n
The city partnered with Schneider Electric, a global energy-efficiency firm, to complete the work under the state\u2019s Guaranteed Energy Savings Act, or GESA, program, which allows public entities to finance improvements through the savings they generate.<\/p>\n
Ayers Fisher said the upgrades mark a significant milestone in the city\u2019s efforts to improve public facilities while advancing sustainability goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took a long time to get to here,\u201d she told attendees Tuesday afternoon at the Schlegel Park ribbon cutting. \u201cWe started working on this about 2021, when I literally started educating and begging, \u2018Can we do GESA?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Funding for the project came from capital allocations, rebates, investment tax credits and financing, city officials said.<\/p>\n
Over a 20-year period, the city expects $13.3 million in total savings, lowering the net project cost to $4.6 million.<\/p>\n
Annual savings are estimated at $2.8 million, with notable energy reductions at each site: 17% at Baer, 50% at Pendora, 44% at Keffer and 28% at Schlegel.<\/p>\n
At Schlegel Park, Ayers Fisher described the transformation of the once oil-heated building into a fully electrified, energy-efficient facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo more window (air-conditioning) units that were older than my children and cost about $3,500 a month to operate in the summertime,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The upgrades included exterior insulation, ceiling vapor sealing to prevent condensation, epoxy flooring and a new electric service that also supports the pool and sewer pumps nearby.<\/p>\n
Though the Schlegel Park building is open again for community rentals, final touches, including painting, restoration of its barn-style signage and additional park lighting, are still in progress, she said.<\/p>\n
Ayers Fisher said the city plans to apply lessons from this project to future upgrades of public buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to continue to do this, focusing on the libraries and the firehouses next,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The project, she said, supports Reading\u2019s broader goal of transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2050, reducing its carbon footprint and increasing operational efficiency across city facilities.<\/p>\n
The work also reflects a commitment to preserving the city\u2019s historic assets.<\/p>\n
The Baer and Pendora fieldhouses, built in 1938 using brownstone salvaged from the old county jail in City Park, and the 1941 Schlegel Park barn-turned-fieldhouse were completed in conjunction with the\u00a0Works Progress Administration, a Great Depression-era government program that employed millions in public works projects.<\/p>\n
The Keffer Park fieldhouse was built in 1966 with the city and Keffer Playground Association equally sharing the cost.<\/p>\n
Now upgraded, the fieldhouses will better serve the community while reducing environmental impact, Ayers Fisher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project has been a good partnership,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a good project and it\u2019s been my pleasure to work with everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final open house in the series will be held Oct. 21 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Keffer Park, 301 Exeter St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading is highlighting major upgrades to four city park fieldhouses, renovated as part of the Reading Fieldhouses Reimagined…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5666,"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-5665","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\/5665","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=5665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}