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Reading gets funds to expand emerging artists’ community

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Like other cities with a history as industrial centers, Reading faces challenges stemming from the decline of manufacturing powerhouses. In June the city approved a recovery plan under a state law designed to pull municipalities out of financial distress.

But Daniel Robinson, the city’s community development director, suspects those characteristics helped convince the federal government to give Reading $750,000 to develop 25 square blocks of the city into an arts district.

Also playing a starring role is the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, which opened in an abandoned goggle factory in 2005 and will be the epicenter of the planned arts district, dubbed Ricktown. GoggleWorks has flourished as a home for artists’ studios, exhibits and independent film screenings, and theaters for movies and live performances have opened nearby.

But the emerging entertainment district is also home to poorly maintained rental units, and a newly opened parking garage next to the movie theater has still-empty retail space. That’s what the grant money is supposed to change, Robinson says.

Plans call for the city to fix up some existing construction, demolish other buildings and build new housing. The new and rehabbed homes will be designed for artists to live in and use for studios.

“It could have some retail if it’s not art-related,” Robinson says. “It could be some restaurants.”

Work on Ricktown will start within the next six months and continue for several years.

“I’m not sure if it can turn into Manayunk in two years,” Robinson says, referring to the trendy Northwest Philadelphia enclave. “But maybe in 10 years we can get some real business there.”

Source: Daniel Robinson, City of Reading
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen

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