After three years of being closed and scheduled for demolition, the Boyd Theater, more recently known as the Sameric, is set to be renovated and reopened as a venue for live entertainment by Clear Channel Communications.
The Boyd Theater at 19th and Chestnut streets is the last of the great movie palaces of Philadelphia. It was saved in part because of its architectural importance.
"The Boyd Theater has been called an art-deco masterpiece ... but it's also a cultural treasure," Committee to Save the Sameric Chairman Howard Haas said.
Numerous organizations, such as the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia branch of the American Institute of Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have worked with the committee.
These groups have been working toward restoring the theater's art-deco decorations --also seen in other buildings from the early 20th century, including the Empire State Building and Radio City Music Hall -- and restoring the theater to its original grandeur.
Haas is confident that Clear Channel, which already runs many venues in Philadelphia, including the Electric Factory, the Merriam Theater, the Theater of the Living Arts and the Tweeter Center, is the right company to run this theater.
"We're working with Clear Channel," Haas said. "They have restored major historical theaters in Baltimore and Boston, and Clear Channel is one of the nation's largest operators of historic theater. They know how to restore them and how to operate them."
Michael Norris, executive director of Art-Reach and board member of the committee believes Clear Channel will not only do a good job restoring the theater, but that a new venue will not hurt the current Philadelphia arts scene.
"I think that the regional theaters in Philadelphia will be fine," Norris said. "The same way that they were fine when the Kimmel Center started presenting at the Academy [of Music], it's a different segment of the entertainment audience ... I think the audience is underserved in that regard."
But while the Committee to Save the Sameric believes that additional theaters will liven the current local arts scene and bring more business for all theaters, some members of the Philadelphia arts community remain skeptical.
"I think there is a lot of trepidation and anxiety within the arts community," Annenberg Center Managing Director Michael Rose said.
Rose added that the Philadelphia arts community is fragile, and the desire for certain media, such as classical music, might be saturated. However, Rose went on to say that he does not believe that the Annenberg Center will be in direct competition with the new Boyd Theater because of differences in theater size and programming.
"I think the big question in the arts community of Philadelphia is 'what kinds of programs are they going to be running?' I think they're going to be doing musical theater," which still has potential for growth.
The development of the Boyd Theater will probably also spur development in western Center City, Haas said. "It will be a major anchor for Chestnut West as well as all of Center City. Theater patrons will be eating dinner at local restaurants and shopping at local stores" near the theater.
Anthony Masapollo, the general manager of Le Castagne, a restaurant at 1920 Chestnut St., is optimistic about the effect of the theater on the surrounding area.
"It will change the whole face of this neighborhood ... economically it's going to be stupendous." When Le Castagne opened up approximately three years ago, it viewed itself as pioneering a new neighborhood. In the past three years, other restaurants have opened, but Masapollo said now that the Boyd is reopening, many other businesses are going to start coming to the neighborhood.
The development of the Boyd could further connect the University of Pennsylvania to Rittenhouse Square and Center City by helping to promote development between these two areas, Haas said. "Before the theater closed, it was clear that many Penn students were walking downtown [to the Boyd] to watch movies."
77 years of the Boyd
Opened in 1928.n Sold by Stanley Warner to the Sameric Corporation which removed the vertical marquee and renamed the theater, "the Sameric," in 1971.
Certified as historic in 1987 by the Philadelphia Historic Commission.
Became the last remaining movie palace in Philadelphia in 1980, after the Fox Theater at 16th and Market streets was demolished.
The Goldenberg Group bought the Sameric from United Artists in 1998.
Theater closed, prompting the Committee to Save the Sameric in 2002.
The Goldenberg Group sold the theater to Clear Channel Entertainment, which announced that they would reopen the theater in 2005.
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