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June 20-26, 2002

city beat

Filling the Boyd

old glory: The Boyd Theatre, now the Sameric, in its prime.

: illustration from philadelphia theaters: a pictorial architectural history from the collection of the athenaeum of philadelphia

Saving the Sameric Theater (nee Boyd Theatre) will take lots of money and more than a little luck.

by Daniel Brook

With the Philadelphia Historical Commission refusing to protect the Sameric Theater and the Department of Licenses and Inspections issuing a demolition permit, there are only a few options available to preservationists vowing to protect the 74-year-old art-deco building on Chestnut Street.

Howard Haas, the Center City attorney leading the preservation movement, declares, "We will buy the theater. Movie palaces across the country have been saved through purchase."

Richard Sklenar, executive director of the Illinois-based Theater Historical Society, thinks purchasing the theater is possible, but warns that it would take some serious fundraising. "It's not like it's in Detroit where you can buy a theater for, oh, $300,000," he said of the Sameric, formerly the Boyd Theatre, which stands on prime Center City real estate.

empty house: The fate of the Sameric remains uncertain.

: photo from philadelphia theaters

Judging from other "saved" theaters, in order to pull off the purchase of the Sameric, Haas' posse will need to be well-organized and catch a few lucky breaks as well. There are a few scenarios.

The first relies on support from politicians. For Playhouse Square, a group of four historic theaters in Cleveland, the county government put up the money to purchase the first building, which houses two of the theaters. With public funding from county, state and federal levels and private money from corporations and individuals, the Playhouse Square Foundation purchased a 134-year lease on a third theater and purchased the fourth outright.

John Hemsath, the director of theater operations at Playhouse Square Center, says preservationists in Cleveland were successful because they "were welcomed and encouraged to save the theater by the city fathers."

Here in Philadelphia, it's unclear whether the powers that be will rally around the Sameric.

Councilman Darrell Clarke, whose district includes the theater, says he doesn't believe the Sameric is in danger of demolition. Clarke says he believes the claim by Goldenberg Group, the site's owners, that the demolition permit was secured only as a "last resort."

"I've spoken to the folks at Goldenberg and they've indicated to me that there's no desire to demolish the building," the councilman says.

Clarke says he is "willing to look at any proposal that's put on the table asking for public assistance," but adds, "We're not interested in acquiring that building."

Haas says his group is actively lobbying at city and state levels. "Saving the theater is an expensive proposition," Haas says. "If it's going to be restored to its art-deco glory, it will need a significant amount of funding from the city and the state."

While the state legislature is controlled by Republicans who are notoriously stingy when it comes to Philadelphia, Haas sees a reason for hope. "Ed Rendell, who created the Avenue of the Arts, may very well be our next governor. He knows the value of arts in the city," says Haas.

Then there's the sugar-daddy scenario.

In 1991, a historic but run-down venue in Seattle, the Paramount Theatre, was threatened with demolition. Its owner wanted to tear it down and erect a modern building with retail on the ground floor and condos above. That was the plan until Ida Cole got wind of it.

Cole was Microsoft's first marketing director and by 1991, an extremely wealthy lady. With a group of about two dozen fellow philanthropists, Cole purchased the theater and renovated it. It has been hosting live performances since 1995.

The Paramount is one of only three pre-Depression-era theaters remaining in Seattle. In the 1920s, the city boasted 50 theaters. The risk that Seattle would lose the last of them spurred local philanthropists like Cole to action.

Philadelphia preservationists are hoping to capitalize on that same impulse, pointing out that the Sameric is the last of Philadelphia's great movie palaces.

But in philanthropy, there's also a certain amount of luck involved. In 1998, Paul Allen, another Microsoft millionaire, walked into his local video store and was asked to sign a petition to save the Cinerama, a Seattle movie theater built in 1963.

As Jason Hunke, spokesman for Allen's holding company Vulcan, says, "Paul figured, ŒYou know what, I can do better than that.'"

The rest is history. Vulcan purchased the theater in 1998 and rehabilitated it. It is now a profitable 800-seat first-run movie theater.

"It wasn't intended to be a business opportunity but it's nice that it pays for itself," Hunke says.

Patrick Harrison, marketing director at Seattle's Paramount Theatre, states the obvious: "We're lucky in the city that we live in because there's a lot of philanthropy from a lot of the new money from high tech."

At the Committee to Save the Sameric organizing meeting, activists said they would contact Philly natives in Hollywood like Richard Gere and Will Smith.

As for finding a local philanthropist, the Theater Historical Society's Sklenar was skeptical. "People in Philadelphia with old line money aren't as willing to part with it quite like that. Maybe for a hospital," he speculated.

Still, it couldn't hurt to start petitioning at Blockbuster video stores on the Main Line.