Instead of letting their communities continue to decline, a handful of under-the-radar towns in Berks County are rallying to make a comeback. Through strategic and often innovative revitalization plans, they’ve pooled resources, recruited volunteers and received significant funding. Small details like new streetlights and smooth sidewalks plus long-term economic solutions like filling vacant storefronts and improving traffic flow have helped Kutztown, West Reading, Boyertown, Hamburg and Sinking Spring reverse doom-and-gloom perceptions and, ultimately, regain their shine.
Kutztown
Kutztown was once a place that out-of-towners couldn’t quite pronounce, but thanks to a multi-year revitalization effort that focused on branding and boosting businesses, the community is now one of the county’s most beloved areas.
The shopping district – fueled by popular stores like Sorrelli, Paisley & Company, Firefly Bookstore and Mamma’s Delight Pizza & Restaurant – is on an upswing. And signature events like Art in the Park, the Muscle on Main car cruise and the Community Block Party are putting Kutztown on the map, says Amanda Verrastro, Main Street Program Director with the Kutztown Community Partnership.
“Much more often, customers mention how much they love coming to town and how much more there is to do,” says Rebecca Laincz, who co-owns Firefly Bookstore on West Main Street with Matt Williams. “People are happy to spend time here shopping, dining and relaxing. We love watching the ongoing development of our downtown, as well as businesses discovering how strong collaborative efforts can benefit everyone.”
Verrastro agrees. “We have a unique dynamic because we’re a university town,” she says. “A lot of people have worn multiple hats to help make our main street successful.”
Initially, a group of business owners formed the Downtown Business Revitalization Initiative in 2004 as a way to better collaborate and address issues impacting the shopping district, such as vacant storefronts.
The group honed in on the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Main Street Program and utilized that model as the basis to create a vibrant downtown area, Verrastro says.
In 2006, Kutztown was identified as a Main Street Program, and, in response, local officials launched the Kutztown Community Partnership, a community- and volunteer-driven non-profit organization dedicated to economic revitalization and preservation. The prestigious Main Street designation has helped to rally support, increase tourism and attract and retain businesses, Verrastro says.
“The initial goal was to make our main street visible and to attract visitors,” Verrastro says. “We started with a focus on branding, then transitioned to filling vacant properties and completing façade work. The organization has grown as the needs of [the] community have grown, so our efforts are shifting from helping businesses open to marketing and spreading the word about those businesses.”
One of the Main Street Program’s largest projects was helping residents and business owners secure façade improvement grants. Verrastro says the grants will have a longstanding impact because they helped to beautify and streamline Kutztown’s signage, lighting and overall streetscape.
“And the results are great. We have professional signage that we love and bright, friendly lighting,” says Laincz, who received one of the grants. “As a new business in town, we wanted to make the best first impression that we could.”
Next up, Kutztown Community Partnership plans to expand beyond the original Main Street Program boundaries, which included East and West Main streets, plus about three blocks in each direction, and stretched along College Avenue to the railroad tracks.
“We’re taking a multifaceted approach and working on multiple projects at the same time,” Verrastro says. “We rely on the generosity of others and our volunteer support, including community members and college interns. We’re looking at extending our reach and creating a Greater Kutztown area. We want to include and promote everyone.”
West Reading
Twenty years ago, West Reading was showing its age.
Cracking sidewalks, old sewer and supply lines and peeling paint on homes were spoiling the borough’s quaint beauty, and vacant storefronts and gridlock traffic along Penn Avenue were crippling the area’s shopping district.
Today, with support from residents, business owners, and local officials as well as substantial grant funding, West Reading’s transformation into a vibrant, lively community has become the gold standard of revitalization programs, both in Berks County and the state.
More than 35 new retail and restaurant businesses have opened on Penn Avenue since 1999, and nearby a $70 million expansion of the Reading Hospital and Medical Center [now Reading Health System] is providing a built-in market for growth, says Elm Street Program Manager Dean Rohrbach.
Plus a $6 million Streetscape Enhancement Project completed in 2003 has also dramatically improved the public environment in the shopping district, Rohrbach says. There are new trees and covered bus shelters, street bump outs and cast-iron street lighting, storm drains and out-of-sight utility lines that stretch behind buildings. Redesigned traffic circulation and a lack of parking meters have also attracted an influx of visitors, he says.
“It’s that kind of detail that makes the difference. For such a little burg like this to do so much is a testament to the residents and the political will. From the beginning, when Kevin Barnhart [now a Berks County Commissioner] was mayor, they had the idea to revitalize West Reading, and they followed through,” Rohrbach says. “It’s all an investment in private properties and in public spaces. We’re going for the curb appeal, the critical mass, so when people are driving through, especially visitors, they say, ‘Wow, something is happening here. Of all of the communities in Berks County, this is where I want to live.’”
Now named the West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation, the borough’s Main Street Program is in its marketing and promotion phase, Rohrbach says. Business owners have continuously stepped up, volunteered and planned signature events like the West Reading Farmer’s Market, First Thursday on Penn, Art on the Avenue and Fall Fest.
“Everyone now talks about West Reading and loves all we have to offer,” says Tina Shenk, owner of Tina’s Salon & Spa on Penn Avenue and one of the Main Street Program’s designated block captains. “It has been very exciting to see such a small community work together and stay focused on thriving, not just surviving.”
Justin Bortz, owner of Justin Bortz Jewelers and Midnight Swan Designs on Penn Avenue, agrees. “West Reading has truly become an entity and a very desirable destination,” he says. “It has been very exciting being a part of this blossoming community. It is a dream come true for me.”
Rohrbach wants the community to be a dream come true for residents, as well. West Reading is working on its second Elm Street neighborhood – Center Point, which stretches from South 4th Street to South 7th Street. And the borough is gearing up for its 3rd annual Let’s Paint the Town event, in which an entire block is painted in complementary historic colors.
“West Reading was always a nice little community,” Rohrbach says. “With all the work we’ve been doing, all the effort that’s gone into enhancing Penn Avenue and the residential areas, it’s now a great little community, and people know that.”
Hamburg
Hamburg, situated at foothills of the Appalachian Mountains along the Schuylkill River, is a mayberry-type town with one distinct difference: the community’s vibrant downtown district is now attracting as much attention as the area’s natural beauty and rich history.
“We’re a step back, and we focus on historic preservation and nostalgic stores of yesteryear,” says Deena Kershner, Executive Director of Hamburg’s Our Town Foundation, a non-profit organization. “We have a lot of mom-and-pop shops and multigenerational stores and restaurants that people love.”
Several business leaders formed Our Town Foundation in 2001 to address downtown revitalization. The following year, the group received the prestigious Main Street designation from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, and in 2005 Hamburg was designated as one of Pennsylvania’s Blueprint Communities.
“Hamburg was in a decline,” Kershner says. “There were a lot of vacancies and properties that weren’t being maintained. The sidewalks weren’t looking so good, and the trees that were lining downtown were in bad shape. We really needed a boost. We just needed some help.”
Today, longtime stores like Dietrich’s Men’s Shop and Doris Berry, coupled with signature events like the King Frost Parade and the mouthwatering Taste of Hamburg-er Festival, are pumping a renewed energy into the community. Plus, the downtown district has been visually improved thanks to various streetscape projects. “We have American flags hanging from our new poles,” Kershner says. “The properties downtown are well maintained. I see the improvements every day.”
Our Town has also catapulted promotions by creating publications, such as the Hamburg Visitors Guide and the Downtown Historic Walking Tour brochure. “Promotion was non-existent before,” Kershner says. “We are now marketing Hamburg, which attracts visitors and makes business owners feel good about what’s happening here.”
Based on results from a market survey, Our Town officials have made arts and entertainment a key part of revitalizing the downtown. In March, the organization purchased the Hamburg Strand Theater, which had been up for sale for many years.
“We wanted to prevent its demise or prevent it from being turned into apartments,” Kershner says. “We have big plans for shows and movies there.”
The Our Town Foundation, which boasts more than 200 members, is now a full-fledged Community Revitalization Corporation that focuses on the entire borough and directs several community-based programs, including the Hamburg Area Arts Alliance, the Gallery of Hamburg co-op and the new Farmer’s Market.
Our Town is now simultaneously working on downtown and residential revitalization, Kershner says. In 2011, the foundation received an Elm Street designation and started work on the Hamburg Southgate Neighborhood. “It is a residential beautification component,” she says. “Our first project will be renovating the Tot Lot, a small community park that’s hidden in an alley.”
Boyertown
Adrienne Blank knows Booyertown is wrapped in a historic charm that dates back centuries, so she has been careful to preserve that heritage while also cultivating a vibrant downtown district.
For example, she says, six businesses (including a nail salon and consignment shop) opened downtown in 2012, and a recent streetscape beautification project included the installation of 42 Victorian lights, 21 planted trees and five blocks of brick ribbon walkway, benches and colorful flowers.
“It’s a special place because of the historic buildings that are here and the very unique shops that have come to Boyertown and opened up,” says Blank, who’s the Main Street Manager with Building a Better Boyertown. ”You’ll find something nostalgic in Boyertown, and it’s a beautiful atmosphere with the stained glass and brick and the trees.”
In 2002, a group of concerned residents and business owners, including current Mayor Marianne Derry, founded Building a Better Boyertown, or BBB for short. The non-profit organization is a designated Main Street Community through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
BBB is hitting its stride and vamping up revitalization efforts, says Blank, a registered landscape architect who initially volunteered on BBB’s Tree Committee. The organization provides business retention outreach, façade grant assistance and promotional events like Oktoberfest, Cruise Night and a popular Farmer’s Market. With more than 120 members and dozens of volunteers, the organization is fueling a renewed “We are Boyertown” spirit.
“It really takes an entire community of volunteers to keep the energy going and come up with fresh ideas,” Blank says.
BBB adheres to the National Main Street’s Four Point program, which focuses on key revitalization areas, including design, economic restructuring and promotion. The multi-prong model has been successful so far, Blank says.
“It’s bringing people and businesses back into the downtown,” Blank says. “People realize Boyertown is a historic asset. It’s a beautiful place to live and own a business. We’re increasing jobs in the downtown, and 46 businesses took advantage of façade grants for painting and putting in signs.”
Now, BBB is working on its next five-year plan, which includes receiving the state’s Keystone Community designation and focusing on improving residential properties.
“Initially our focus was a seven-block area of downtown,” Blank says. “Boyertown is less than one mile, so we want to expand the boundary beyond the heart of downtown to the borough limits, which will ensure sustainability, and it will bring in new ideas and new people.”
Sinking Spring
The conversation about revitalizing Sinking Spring started 100 miles away in harrisburg, where a group of local officials were attending a safety seminar in 2004 and began discussing how the borough would be able to afford the rising cost of fire equipment.
“We knew we had a lot of dilapidated properties, largely commercial properties that were under-producing in tax revenues,” says Regina Shade, interim borough manager. “We realized then how important it was that we start putting these properties back on line.”
In 2006, borough officials reached out to expert consultant Sam Loth, who had been instrumental in helping to revitalize West Reading. Together, they formulated BOSS 2020, a Main Street Revitalization plan that stands for Borough of Sinking Spring in 2020 and focuses on developing a walkable community of shops, cafes, parks and recreational facilities. The 2020 refers to the target completion date.
“It really provided a clear vision of the direction we wanted to go and what we wanted to do to enhance the area,” Shade says.
That vision – rooted in economic stability, recreation, education and infrastructure – includes creating a road that would run parallel to Penn Avenue to ease gridlock, fixing the “turkey foot” intersection near the Rita’s Italian Ice and McDonalds to improve traffic flow and making Sinking Spring’s section of the Penn Corridor more pedestrian friendly to encourage shopping, eating and strolling. To help, officials have applied for grant funding and have rezoned several areas for commercial use, Shade says.
“We’re now working on the western end of Sinking Spring,” Loth says. “We want businesses to set up in a small village-type center. That works best and is well suited for this area.”
Mobilizing a grassroots effort has been the key to being successful, Loth says. Communities like Sinking Spring must be willing to “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps,” pool their resources and put up their own money initially, he says, adding that taking those steps will give the state good reason to provide grant funding or match money raised.
“In Pennsylvania, each municipality grapples with its own challenges, but you have to be prepared to do everything to revitalize an area, from soup to nuts,” Loth says. “You have to be serious. Forward thinking and planning are necessary.”
Still, Loth says he often advises officials to focus on more than dollars when developing a strong revitalization project.
“The most important thing is the people in the community, the volunteers,” he says. “If they want to see their town successful, they have to become involved in making it successful. It’s extremely rewarding to be a volunteer because you get to actually make a decision on the type of light that’s going to be on the street. You’re helping yourself and your community, your own town where you live. Having that type of involvement from residents and business owners, it pays off in spades.”
Sinking Spring is engaging volunteers invested in the community, and the borough is steadily making progress, despite the downturn in the economy, Shade says.
“We’ve had many twists and turns,” she says, “but we’re optimistic.”
KUTZTOWN COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP Keepinitkutztown.com WEST READING MAIN STREET PROGRAM Westreadingmainstreet.org Lovewestreading.org BUILDING A BETTER BOYERTOWN Boyertownpa.org OUR TOWN FOUNDATION, HAMBURG Hamburgpa.org BOSS 2020, SINKING SPRING facebook.com/boss2020
BY KRISTIN BOYD | PHOTOS BY MIKE NOBLE
