by Eric Klein/LMGI

Photo: Scott Currie/LMGI

The late afternoon sun was fading into silence as our minibus climbed up Duryea Drive. The road circled and switched back, and fallen amber leaves lay on the pavement in bunches. Mount Penn would be our last stop on this two-day Berks County/Reading, Pennsylvania Fam Tour. It’s pronounced “Redding,” not “Reading.” All those years of landing on Reading Railroad in Monopoly, I had been mispronouncing it. Cammie Harris, the Film Commissioner from Reading, smiled slowly and nodded at the road, reminding us to keep watching ahead.

And then I saw it: the Reading Pagoda, a seven-story fable rising out of the Pennsylvania countryside like a fever dream from the Far East. It had no business being here, and yet here it was. The Pagoda looked as if it had been lifted straight from the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, and its architecture shares details with traditional Japanese pagodas. Built in 1907 as a prospective luxury resort that never opened, it stands 71 feet tall and was donated to the city of Reading in 1911. In 1972, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From its upper floor, they say you can see 30 miles on a clear day. It is the only large pagoda in the United States and was clearly the star of the Fam Tour. It is currently undergoing restoration, with scaffolding up until June.

L-R: Aaron Hurvitz/LMGI, Eric Klein/LMGI, John Hutchinson/LMGI, Scott Currie/LMGI

Fellow LMGI members John Hutchinson, Aaron Hurwitz, Scott Currie and I were the lucky recipients of this quick Fam Tour. It took us to select Reading-area locations of interest: the Reading Regional Airport, the Mid Atlantic Air Museum, the Pleasantville Covered Bridge and the Colebrookdale Railroad, a working line complete with restored century-old train cars. The period details on these cars were spectacular, and I made a note to tell Lauri Pitkus/LMGI, the LM for The Gilded Age, about them; the cars would be perfect for her show.

Aaron Hurvitz/LMGI

The Fam Tour was held in conjunction with the Reading Film Festival in early October. Just under three hours from New York City, Reading is out of the zone but still only about 120 miles from NYC and under 60 miles from Philadelphia. Filming in Reading has happened occasionally over the years, most notably for Witness, Girl, Interrupted and Blow Out. Film Commissioner Harris sees future possibilities. ReadingFilm is entering a new chapter, one where its stories, locations and creative energy become a catalyst for real economic and cultural growth. Her hope is that this first Fam Tour reveals what they have always known: that Reading and Berks County are true hidden gems for film production. Scott Currie, a Philly-based LM and scout, agrees. “We saw an impressive array of potential locations, including hospitals, high schools, theaters, factory spaces and event centers. We also visited unique spots like the Pagoda, a World War II aircraft museum and a fantastic period train with its own private rail and stations. Reading is a unique place.”

Scott Currie/LMGI

At the end of our first night, we were invited for dinner and hors d’oeuvres at a few houses in the Centre Park Historic District of Reading. The neighborhood is a collection of Queen Anne, Gothic Revival and Victorian Romanesque homes from the turn of the century. The buildings are kept in pristine condition by the diligence of the Centre Park Historic District Inc. The houses were built by a hodgepodge of Reading’s well-to-do families—textile magnates, merchants, railroad employees and industrial workers. They sit adjacent to Centre Park, home to the annual Easter egg hunt and the neighborhood’s Halloween and Fourth of July celebrations.

John Hutchinson/LMGI

I hung back in our minibus briefly as our group filed into the first house, admiring the Queen Anne architecture. Terry, our driver, turned to me and said his dad used to work in these houses, making deliveries mostly. “All of these houses were filled with big families back then, and the parks were full of kids playing all day, and Moms wearing dressy dresses walking with strollers. It was a sight. They need to do a movie about that.” I nodded. “Yes, they need to do movies about lots of things. It gets done slowly, but beautiful buildings make it a lot easier. There’s a story everywhere.”

Aaron Hurvitz

For more information on filming in Reading, PA, please visit: https://readingfilm.org/

For more images from the Fam Tour, please visit https://locationmanagers.org/