Ruins of fired-damaged Reading landmark to be demolished

Apr. 12—The ruins of the former Mineral Spring Hotel will be razed.

City Council has voted 5 to 1 to demolish what is left of the landmark in Mineral Spring Park.

Council president Donna Reed voted against the demolition.

The city-owned building, long-leased to the East End Athletic Club, was destroyed by fire March 4.

The cause of the fire remains undetermined.

The building had been vacant and deteriorating since the club was evicted under former Mayor Wally Scott's administration in 2017.

"As you know that building was damaged almost beyond repair, at least from a financial standpoint," Kyle Zeiber, acting director of public works, told council Monday night. "So the logical plan is to demolish that building."

Demolition will take place as soon as it can be scheduled, he said, noting the cost, about $58,000, will be paid using community development block grant funds.

Council earlier raised concerns about public safety at the unsecured ruins in the park.

The park at the end of Glen Road is at the center of a municipal park system that includes Pendora and Egelman parks.

Stone from the building will be used to backfill the space left after demolition, Zeiber said, and some stone will be reserved for use in future park beautification projects.

Plans to redesign the park entrance are in the works, he said.

Councilwoman Marcia Goodman-Hinnershitz said she understands the city applied for a grant for the park improvements and would like to see a copy of the plans to ensure the historic nature of the site will be somehow recognized.

Although the building was considered a local landmark, it is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Jamar Kelly, deputy city managing director.

"The old hotel is steeped in local history," said George M. Meiser IX, a local historian and coauthor of the "Passing Scene" series of books on Berks County history.

Built about 1815 as a textile mill, the stone building was converted into a hotel by 1818, and is considered a significant example of an early health resort. Water from the nearby springs was considered full of healthful minerals, Meiser said, and the hotel was one of the first in the country to offer mineral water cures.

A succession of innkeepers continued when the property came under the control of the Reading Water Company in 1856 and after the city acquired the water company's holdings nine years later.

By that time, Meiser said, the Mineral Spring Dam was supplying local citizens with about 120,000 gallons of water a day.

"With the general population receiving the daily benefits of the mineral water, the hotel's focus shifted," he said, "and it became a popular spot for summer concerts, dances and chicken and waffles dinners."

For decades, the hotel was the scene of political rallies, including a stop on the 1844 campaign trail of soon-to-be president James K. Polk and his vice president, George M. Dallas, according to an article in the Reading Times on July 20, 1881.

It became home to the East End Club about 1937.

More recently, the building was considered for use as a center for homeless veterans. At the time, council raised concerns about its deterioration.

The Reading Rotary Club, which held its organizational meeting at the old hotel, adopted the park last year and had been raising funds for improvements to the building and park.

Goodman-Hinnershitz said the Rotary and other interested community partners should have input into developing plans for the site.

"We need to be able to plan together on how we can make this happen," she said, requesting a public meeting be scheduled, possibly at the old Pendora Park field house.