As a result of the article in the PW yesterday, I’ve been getting emails from people who have stories to tell about the Market. The story you see below is from Patrick, who worked at Reading Terminal in the early 90’s.  If you have a story to tell, let me know.

Not a sepia tone tale from 50 years ago, more like 15 years ago. In the spring of 1993 I got a job at a stand (name withheld to protect the innocent) in the Reading Terminal Market. I had been working in the corporate world and at the age of 24 I had my mid-life crisis and realized that I had not been enough of a slacker. I threw away my suits, started playing in a punk band again, stayed out late and barely got in before I had to go out to my $8.00/hour job.

In 1993 the market was in the home stretch of its multi-year renovation. The convention center was still under construction. The market bathrooms were trailers on Filbert Street and the train shed was finally getting a new roof. For the previous decade when it rained outside, it rained inside the market. The market had a very different vibe back then. Not better but it had a lot of “atmosphere.”

Part of the renovation agreement with the merchants was to do the work in 5 stages and relocate merchants to temporary digs so everyone could stay open. So every 10 months a number merchants would move back to their old location, with new equipment, better layout and no leaky roofs.

The section of the market I was working in was the last section to be renovated. This led to a few interesting experiences. Now, you have to remember that the market was neglected of basic maintenance for years and was in the middle of a 2 city block long construction site and next to the commuter tunnel. At the time there were a very large number of small furry visitors in the market. As the renovation progressed floors were patched and holes were sealed. As a result all of the critters were evicted into our general area-the last section to get renovated.

Part of my job was to open the stand, meaning I got there around 7am, a hour before the market opened to the public. Before I turned on the lights I would have to climb on the counters because the floor would be covered in rodents, giving it the appearance of life. The entire day was a battle to keep the food sealed away and redirect the customers who would often comment, “hey, is that a rat in the aisle?”

During that time, I also discovered the cats. There were dozens of cats living up in the train shed that started to take over the Terminal as the work progressed. There were cats everywhere for a week. And suddenly they were gone. I still never found out what happened to them.

NOTE-After the renovation was completed; there were no more signs of rodents. The market has a stringent abatement program and this problem no longer exist.