Next on the Penn Street chopping block to demolish is the Liever building, which is located at 437 Penn Street in Reading. Due to its prime location in the square, we can be certain the site was one of the earliest settled in the city. In the 18th century the Hiester House, home of Joseph Heister, a Revolutionary War officer, Congressman and later Governor of Pennsylvania sat here.
Around the turn of the 20th century this property had two distinct frontages. A June 14th, 1894 Reading Times article announced the grand opening of “Koller’s Ice Cream Parlor” which occupied the ground level of both buildings. In 1907 a deed transferring ownership to William Griscom described them as “two three-story brick buildings” addressed 439 and 441 Penn Street.
In 1922 the two buildings were purchased by Hyman Liever. Liever was a Jewish Russian-born immigrant who came to the United States during the oppressive reign of of Tsar Nicholas II in 1907. The earliest record I could find, the 1910 census, placed him at 620 South 7th Street. This is also near where he operated his business, Berks County Bottling Works at 409-411 South 6th.
In 1920 Hyman along with son Joseph incorporate the Reading Bottle Stopper Company which they operated out of 234 South 6th Street.
In 1922 he formed Liever Realty Co. with his sons and immediately began purchasing real estate within the city. One of his oldest sons, Israel (Izzy) Liever was childhood best friends and business partners with prohibition kingpin Max Hassel. In fact, it has been speculated that Hyman, due to his connections in bottling introduced Max to the brewers in which he would sling beer during prohibition. Hyman himself worked closely with Reading Brewing for the first few years of prohibition, but allegedly decided to get into real estate as an alternative after federal crackdowns on brewing full-strength beer in the mid-20s. However, Hyman didn’t totally get out of the game. In January 1922 the Liever Real Estate Company purchased 58 properties from the Reading Brewing Company, most of which were operating as speakeasies.
Hyman was also one of the founders of the Kesher Zion Synagogue on Perkiomen Avenue.
Liever had the facade of the building completely rebuilt, making it appear as one structure. We can only speculate as to why, but it is worth noting that the Farmer’s Bank Building next door was under construction around the time of this ownership transfer, so it was likely an attempt to update the look of the block.
At the time of the Liever purchase the Consumers Gas Company had their main offices in the 441 side of the building and a Physician named Dr. J. C. McCoy operated out of 439. After 1923 the building was referenced in both the Eagle and the Times as the “Liever Building“. It would be home to various businesses over the decades. In the 1960s UGI operated their offices here.
The building continued to stay in the Liever family until 1969 when it was sold to Haverty Berks Real Estate Co. In 1978 it became a part of American Bank’s Project Keystone which renovated all of the buildings between 431-449 Penn Street into their corporate office space. It is during this time they bricked in the business display windows visible in the photo above in the style of the rest of the facade. The bank operated out of the buildings until Meridian sold them in 1995. It is unclear if this building has been occupied since. It is currently at risk for being demolished by the city due to neglect since acquiring ownership in 2013. Only Liever’s century-old facade has a chance of being saved if Reading’s Historical Architectural Review Board has their way.
