City Park Volunteer Fireman's Memorial Bandshell - Reading, PA
Posted by: Janila
N 40° 20.106 W 075° 54.772
18T E 422459 N 4465350
The City Park Volunteer Fireman's Memorial was funded by WPA funds.
Waymark Code: WMYXD2
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 08/06/2018
Views: 0
From the Living New Deal website:
Reading, Pennsylvania’s historic City Park Fireman’s Memorial Bandshell was constructed during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.
“The City Park Fireman’s Memorial Bandshell was dedicated on Labor Day in 1939. The Bandshell, located at Hill Road & Constitution Blvd in Reading, is home to the Ashley for the Arts Bandshell Concert Series held annually. In 2011 the Bandshell was renovated at a cost of a about one million dollars.”
PWA Docket No. X2137
Prior to the bandshells construction, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project was undertaken, to raze “the front of the old Berks jail and the jail yard walls,” thus clearing the land for the bandshell. The Reading Times reported: “$12,800 WPA funds have been allotted, will pave the way for use of the site for a firemen’s memorial, to which use city council has dedicated it.”