Letter from the Manager

West Reading on a Mission

by Mark Ratcliffe, Main Street Manager, West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation

West Reading is on a mission to improve. We live in a great community and West Reading looks to be a positive part of Greater Readings revitalization. With our branding and new identity complete, it is time to move on to physical improvements. We have initiated a facade improvement program, where the West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation (WRCRF) is helping businesses improve their facades by giving them $2,500 in matching funds. We know we need to compete with the new strip malls of today and our shop owners need help doing this. We have also hired Derck & Edson, LLC, an architecture firm based in Lititz, to assist them with their retail facade design. After that we will be working on cleaning up and improving our streetscape and gateway into West Reading. West Reading has an opportunity to be one of the most creative and fun communities in eastern PA. Pennsylvania has many great historic downtowns, but West Reading has the arts, and we look to build on that strength to create a vibrant community full of life, great food, entertainment and, of course, art.

We are also looking to grow our public art to include sculptures, lighting, and interactive displays to help make West Reading a destination. The more we improve West Reading, the better we can be at helping our Greater Reading area grow and improve. I like to use the word sourdough starter. If you have something small that is working, it can help the surrounding area to grow and turn into one vibrant community we can all be proud to live, work, and play in. Now that the Summer is here, take a stroll down Cherry Street Mural Corridor to see the new mural being painted at 5th & Cherry. QR codes are now on all of our 40+ murals in West Reading, so you can read about each mural and in some cases even hear from the artist themselves. Fall Fest is on September 17th, Small Business Saturday is on November 26th and don’t forget our 2nd Fridays and our Sunday Farmers’ Market. Summer is the perfect time to enjoy West Reading and we hope to see you soon!

When visiting our merchants tell them you saw West Reading Avenues magazine!

Speaking of pretzels, we were finally able to host our annual Craft Pretzel & Beer Fest. This was the first event to be canceled due to COVID in 2020 and the last to not be allowed on the Avenue in 2021. It was so great to finally see everyone out enjoying themselves with a pretzel and a beer (this is everything I love about this area).

Next up is our 28th Annual Art on the Avenue on June 18th. We are increasing the size of our Plein Air competition this year bringing in even better artists (hard to believe) to our Main Street. They will be competing in a “Paint Out” this year. This timed competition should be a lot of fun to watch.