Lawrence A. greene 4/3/1933 - 2/22/2021

Lawrence A. greene 4/3/1933 - 2/22/2021

Lawrence A. Greene

The third major transition for the firm founded by Fred Muhlenberg in 1920 was a partnership with Lawrence A. Greene, Jr. in 1965.  Muhlenberg Greene Architects was formed when Larry was 32 and Fred was 75.

Fred credited Larry with making the office a success.  He stated, “All architects were on the drafting board all the time when I started.  Greene’s not like that.  He’s an organizer.  He doesn’t get on the drafting board. He’s getting us jobs to do.”

Following Mr. Muhlenberg's retirement in 1977, the firm became the sole proprietorship of Mr. Greene, until January 1, 1980 when the present corporation, Muhlenberg Greene Architects, Ltd., was established.

LEADERSHIP

Under the leadership of Larry Greene, Muhlenberg Greene was involved in many of the redevelopment projects in downtown Reading from 1976 -1988.    

Starting with Penn Square Center, Larry and 9 other local engineering and construction firms, formed a development group responsible for the design and construction of the 10 story building at 6th and Penn Streets; the building eventually sold to Meridian Bank.

After the Penn Square Center project, the firm designed the Glen Gery building at 6th and Court Streets, the General Battery building at 7th and Penn Streets, and then moved down Penn Street to design the CNA building and the renovations and additions to the bank buildings at 5th and Penn Streets.

Later, the firm teamed with Moeckel Carbonell Architects to design the new bank building on the former Pomeroy’s site at 6th and Penn Streets, currently occupied by Wells Fargo.

Under Larry’s leadership, our firm also was involved with the historic rehab of the former CNA building at 4th and Washington Streets (The Madison) and the former Berkshire Hotel at 5th and Washington Streets (The Berkshire).

BIOGRAPHY

Greene graduated from Syracuse University’s School of Architecture in 1957. He then spent two years in active duty in the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth and Fort Lee Virginia as operations officer and was discharged in April 1960.

Afterwards, he was able to get a job at a firm in Allentown, near his wife’s family farm. However, that job lasted only six months because the firms’ three partners decided to split up. 

Greene started making exploratory forays from his home to other places within driving distance looking for work. He ended up one day in Reading, stopping outside of town at a phone booth to look up architects in the yellow pages.

Armed with the names of architectural firms he thought he could find (i.e. addresses like 5th Street and 6th Street), Larry knocked on doors and got two job offers. He snapped up the first one - and got $10.00 more per week then he had been making – at a firm owned by Frederick A. Muhlenberg.

Mr. Greene retired in 2013 and lived in Zionsville, PA with his wife until his death in February 2021.

Well known architectural projects from his partnership with Fred Muhlenberg include:

COMMUNITY & PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION APPOINTMENTS

ARCHIVAL PHOTOS