Empire Services

 in the News

Excellence That Earns Recognition

At Empire Services, excellence isn’t just a promise — it’s a reputation built through results. As a leading demolition and earthmoving services provider in Berks County, we have earned recognition across industries and communities for delivering measurable impact, forward-thinking solutions, and dependable outcomes.


As a proud affiliate of Empire Group, Empire Services combines experience, craftsmanship, and innovation to deliver professional demolition and excavation services as well as civil work that consistently exceed expectations. Our reputation as a trusted local demolition services company in Reading, PA, is reinforced by strong client partnerships, strategic operations, an extensive fleet, and consistent media attention highlighting our commitment to quality and leadership.

Clearing the Way for Clean Water

Demolition Magazine | Q1 2026

We are happy to announce that this extraordinary project was featured in Demolition magazine (Q1 2026). Below is a sample from the published article.


With this project, the size of the components and their location in the tank dictated the order of removal. The first major elements removed were the elevated steel troughs, which were torch-cut into manageable pieces for safe removal from the depths of the clarifier. The second order of business was the removal of the elevated walkways and platforms. These oversized units required precision cutting and rigging before being lifted out of the tank using a Liebherr LTM 1300-6.2 crane
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Turning the Old into the New

Demolition Magazine | Q2 2023

Demolition Magazine Cover Allentown Metal Works Article

We are excited to announce we’ve been published! Demolition magazine published our article on the unique demolition and excavation work performed to repurpose the Allentown Metal Works site. The team’s strategic planning and productivity earned them the Alvin H. Butz, Inc. Outstanding Feat Award!
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Empire Services Receives Award from Alvin H. Butz, Inc.

April 2023

Congratulations Empire Services project team on winning the Alvin H. Butz, Inc. Outstanding Feat Award for 2022! The team’s sequenced approach on the Allentown Metal Works project maximized their productivity allowing the building renovations to begin earlier than expected.


Empire Services team holding the Alvin H. Butz Award.

Nature's Symphony

Breathtaking colors of our planet
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The Alvin H. Butz Award given to Empire Services

Faces of Humanity

Portraits of people from around the globe
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Demolition Begins on Fire-Damaged

Condemned Rowhomes in Lancaster

WGAL.com | March 22, 2023 | Barbara Barr

LANCASTER, Pa. — Eight condemned rowhomes in Lancaster that were damaged by fire last week are being demolished. The cause of the March 13 fire in the 500 block of Plum Street is still under investigation, according to a news release from the mayor's office.


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Demolition begins on condemned fire-damaged

North Plum Street homes

LancasteOnline | March 22, 2023 | Jack Panyard

Demolition began Tuesday morning on a series of homes on North Plum Street that were damaged by a March 13 fire. The teardown is being handled by Empire Services, a Reading-based demolition company, which has taken down backyard sheds, trees and fences ahead of demolishing the homes. Empire Foreman Konor Yurkons said the project is expected to last three weeks, with most of the work happening this week.


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Snowed Down

Demolition Magazine  | Q1 2022

At 3 p.m. on a Friday in February 2021, NDA Member Empire Services received a call from the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, to perform an emergency demolition after a snowstorm caused the roof and upper floor of a three-story structure to collapse a mere 4 feet from power lines on the 200 block of Maple Street. 

Demolition crews work on collapsed buildings in Reading

WFMZ.com | March 2021

READING, Pa. – A pile of bricks is all that remains of a century-old industrial building in the 200 block of Maple Street. Snowstorms last month caused part of the roof to collapse, sending bricks into the street. Fears of a possible collapse triggered an evacuation of nine homes in the area.


An aerial view of a city covered in snow
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Empire Group donates 15,000 face masks to

Reading Hospital and Penn State Health St. Joseph

readingeagle.com | March 2020 | Dan Kelly

The Empire Group has donated 15,000 N95 face masks to two local hospitals in response to reports of a shortage of the devices amid the coronavirus pandemic.


A clock tower with a gold dome on top of it
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Mask Donation to Area Hospitals

WFMZ.com  | March 2020

WEST READING, Pa. - A Berks County business is stepping up to help local healthcare workers on the front lines of the coronvirus pandemic. Reading-based Empire Group has donated 10,000 N95 respirators to Reading Hospital and 5,000 to Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center.


Two white trucks are parked next to each other in a parking lot.
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Empire Is on Fire

Demolition Magazine | MAR/APR | 2019

The Reading-based demolition company Empire Services examined the structural integrity of the smokestack, which is part of the factory originally built in 1926 and served as a finishing plant for Blair County-based Double H Boots.

Article in Demolition Magazine
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Crumbling Smokestack in Womelsdorf Set for Demolition

THURSDAY JANUARY 24, 2019

"The Reading-based demolition company Empire Services examined the structural integrity of the smokestack, which is part of the factory compley originally built in 1926 and served as a finishing plant for Blair County-based Double H Boots."

A brick building with a chimney in front of it

Clearing Out

Demolition Magazine | Nov/Dec 2018

In almost all ways, the demolition of a two-story office building in Horsham, Pennsylvania, was completely standard.

Demolition Contractor Finds Business

in Helping Local Fire Department

DECEMBER 19, 2017

Empire Group assists the city of Reading, PA, in extinguishing a blaze and removing an eyesore in a densely populated neighborhood.


Fire at an old building
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Former Warehouse in Reading Gutted

by Three-Alarm Fire Will Be Razed

TUESDAY APRIL 4, 2017

The four-story, vacant brick building at 11th and Chestnut streets that lies in ruins after a three-alarm blaze on Sunday is now officially a demolition site.



A fence is surrounding a building that is being demolished.

Reading Building Site of Rappelling Fundraiser

for Bethany Children's Home

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 12, 2016

"We were pretty much tied (for fundraising)," Gruber said, "until one of our board members, Harry O'Neill of Empire Services (in Reading), topped us."



A person is climbing up the side of a brick building
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Lehigh Valley Business

June 15, 2015 

"BUILDING AN EMPIRE At 60, Reading company has grown to 200 employees, six divisions"


A deere excavator is digging a hole in the ground
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Crews Demolish Reading Row Homes Damaged in Fire

THURSDAY MAY 7, 2015

City building and trades officials deemed four of the buildings structurally unstable and ordered them razed. The city awarded an emergency demolition contract to Empire Services, Reading.



Demo debris
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