Philadelphia 2035 (Reading: estimate, snow, hired)

[kidphilly]

Eight-screen movie theater and restaurant planned for old Boyd

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by phillies2011

wow i really love the new design for cira south. When will construction begin? The article mentions that the site is growing by a floor a week but i assume they're talking about the grove apartment building, any word on when the office building will begin construction?

Brandywine is claiming the tower will be complete by mid-2016. Guess we'll see. It's looking like it will be over 600 feet tall.

[kidphilly]

DRWC, Nutter announce significant new funding and projects on Delaware waterfront | Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Eight-screen movie theater and restaurant planned for old Boyd

It's so sad that no one has been able to save the last movie palace in Philadelphia!

This proposal, if it goes through, is to demolish & chop up the (huge, incredible) main auditorium into smaller screens, and just save the (small relatively unremarkable) Chestnut St facade.

I guess it's better than having an abandoned ruin there for another 10-15 years. And yes the otherwise booming neighborhood could really use a decent theater, so sure, inevitably something had to happen.

But still it's just a shame.
Certainly it's tough times for movie theatres in general, but still it's a bit baffling and saddening to me that the Boyd just seems doomed. Despite the longtime efforts of folks like Friends of the Boyd.
Philly has such a great history of movie palaces. I wish there was a way to hold on to a piece of it, like the Ziegfield (NYC), or the Uptown (DC), or the Fox (ATL , STL or Detroit)...

[kidphilly]

Hub II to begin construction at long last | philadelphiaheights

[kidphilly]

PlanPhilly | William Penn seeds $5 million more for waterfront access

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by rotodome

But still it's just a shame.
Certainly it's tough times for movie theatres in general, but still it's a bit baffling and saddening to me that the Boyd just seems doomed. Despite the longtime efforts of folks like Friends of the Boyd.
Philly has such a great history of movie palaces. I wish there was a way to hold on to a piece of it, like the Ziegfield (NYC), or the Uptown (DC), or the Fox (ATL , STL or Detroit)...

I agree. It really is such a challenging and disconcerting situation, because it is vitally important the city tries to bring these decrepit historical sites back to active use.

However outside of generous philanthropists -- which aren't exactly lining up these days -- major, chain-oriented corporations (with inflexible business models) tend to be the deep-pocketed ones. I am actually impressed that they would save the facade, but of course it would be a tragedy to lose the grand performance space.

There has also been recent discussion about the city's ability to sustain its current stock of performing arts/cultural venues, so that adds another challenge to the restoration effort.

I think most reasonable people would prefer that the Boyd be fully restored, but unfortunately a lot of things have to come down to hard numbers and final decisions must be balanced with other important objectives (e.g., the city collecting more taxes from active use vs. turning down a viable proposal to let the property fester for an unknown amount of time).

From what I understand, iPic Theaters must demonstrate that full restoration is prohibitively expensive for them to move forward with any demolition (which they have not yet proven). Let's hope they might be able to be swayed into utilizing the original structure.

[kidphilly]

Making plans for 30th Street Station

[Lenses & Lights.]

Large Logan Square project approved

[kidphilly]

Garces leases Old Original Bookbinder's