On March 31, 2025, the City of Reading will see the full activation of newly installed gates and surveillance cameras along Skyline Drive, a historic roadway atop Mount Penn that has long been a jewel in the city’s crown. These gates, positioned at Duryea Drive and Shearer Road, and at Skyline Drive and List Road, will close automatically each night at 9:00 p.m., restricting access to the area until morning. Accompanied by 11 strategically placed cameras providing real-time, high-definition feeds to law enforcement, the initiative aims to enhance security and deter crime. City officials have assured the public that emergency responders will retain remote access, and popular events like the Easter Dawn Service and Pagoda Hill Climb will proceed unaffected. Yet, as the gates prepare to swing shut for the first time, one cannot help but wonder: is this modest measure a missed opportunity to do so much more for a site steeped in history and potential?
Skyline Drive and the Mount Penn Reservation, home to the iconic Pagoda, are not mere municipal assets—they are testaments to Reading’s resilience and vision. The roadway’s origins trace back to 1932, when, amidst the Great Depression, over 1,200 unemployed workers toiled under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) to carve out what was then called Skyline Boulevard. Paid a meager five cents an hour, these men constructed a 2.55-mile scenic route and an accompanying stone wall, transforming a rugged mountain ridge into a public treasure. The project, completed in 1935, was more than infrastructure; it was a lifeline, offering dignity through labor rather than charity. A bronze tablet near the Pagoda, unveiled in August 1935, immortalizes their efforts: “Dedicated by the City of Reading, Pennsylvania, to those Citizens, who, in a period of economic depression, labored to build this Boulevard.”
The Pagoda itself, completed in 1908, adds another layer of historical richness. Originally envisioned by William Abbott Witman Sr. as a luxury resort inspired by Asian architecture, its fate shifted when a liquor license was denied, leading to foreclosure and its eventual donation to the city in 1911 by Jonathan Mould. Since then, it has stood as a symbol of community pride, surviving calls for demolition during World War II’s anti-Japanese sentiment and emerging as a beloved landmark. Together, Skyline Drive and the Pagoda embody Reading’s ability to adapt and endure, drawing visitors from across the nation to marvel at their scenic splendor.
Yet, the decision to install gates and cameras feels like a cautious step backward from this legacy of bold ambition. Security is undoubtedly a concern—vandalism has plagued the area intermittently, from the displacement of stone walls in the 1930s to more recent wear and tear. The 2017 reconstruction of Skyline Drive, funded by a $969,000 Multimodal Transportation Grant, addressed some of these issues, adding bike lanes and repairing crumbling sections of the WPA-era wall. But the new gates, while practical, seem to prioritize containment over enhancement. They restrict rather than invite, closing off a space that has historically been defined by its openness to the public…