Office Of The Mayor
Thomas M. McMahon



Mayor’s Report To City Council
August 11, 2008

Economic Development

August 8 was the start of a great weekend with more good news than we have had for a long time.

It was showtime at the opening of the Reading Movies 11 and IMAX on Friday, on North Second Street.  In addition to the IMAX movie, the grand opening celebration included a visit from Governor Rendell and two film cutting ceremonies. 

Friday, August 8 was also Governor Rendell’s announcement of the availability of state funds for two Reading projects - $12 million for the construction of the Doubletree Hotel and parking deck at 7th and Penn Streets, and $1.25 million to help Goggleworks Apartments construct fifty-nine market-rate apartments at “Entertainment Square.”

Congratulations Tom and Mike DeCarlo, owners of DeCarlo Custom Cabinetry, on their new 20,000 square foot location at 1612 Thorn Street.  They leased their prior location in Millmont, and spent two years searching for a City location to purchase that would allow them to expand their business.  My thanks to the  DeCarlo family for your commitment to the City.

Neighborhoods

The next two Neighborhood Forums are scheduled on the following dates –

Wednesday, August 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Mennonite Church located at 415 South Seventh Street

Tuesday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Kesher Zion Synagogue located at the corner of Hill Road and Perkiomen Avenue

For more information on these neighborhood meetings please contact the Office of Neighborhood Development at 610-655-6277.

Centre Park Historic District is hosting “Music in Centre Park” every Sunday evening in August from 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.  There is no admission charge and they are asking everyone to bring their own chairs.  For more information you can contact Centre Park Historic District at 610-375-7860 or go to their website at www.centrepark.org.

Miscellaneous

The ribbon cutting celebration for the City Park Playground took place on Wednesday, July 30th at the Playground.  Thanks Marcia and Dennis, Senator O’Pake and Commissioner Leinbach for joining me and all of the kids for the official opening.  Thank you to everyone in the Recreation Department that made all of those snow cones possible and Frank Denbowski for the litter containers with “Kid Art” on them.  There is a great photo of the event on the City’s website main page at is www.readingpa.gov. 

We celebrated our Pagoda’s centennial with great fanfare this past weekend. From the centenarians’ birthday party to kite-making, to the proclamations and commendations, to the Ringgold Band concert at the City Park Bandshell, to the special march composed for the Pagoda, to the birthday cakes, to the Phillies game and fireworks, and to the community mural painted at the GoggleWorks, we joined together as a community at large to pay tribute to our beloved icon.  Special thanks to Cindy Kauffman for coordinating all of the activities which went off without a hitch, and thank you to the Centennial Committee for volunteering with their hearts and hands. 

The momentum from this weekend will continue with the renovation and restoration of the Pagoda beginning this week with the start of the installation of scaffolding.

This is a reminder to City of Reading residents to call 1-877-727-3234 to report graffiti. The city/county graffiti eradication effort is set to begin this week.