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Yeadon Theater May Be Demolished
posted by
Ross Melnick
on
February 1, 2006 at 4:42 am
YEADON, PA — Howard Haas has sent in the following note (and links):
“The Yeadon Theater, built in 1937 in Yeadon, PA, last surviving John Eberson-designed theater in the Philadelphia area and one of the last Art Moderne theaters in the area, may be demolished. The town council may vote February 2nd to demolish without meeting with a movie operator interested in reopening the theater.”
Philadelphia Inquirer story: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13759690.htm
Link to 2003 photos: http://www.robbender.com/gallery/yeadon
Comments (5)
Thanks, Ross, for posting. We in the Philadelphia region haven’t done a great job in preserving our movie theater heritage. Many of us have dedicated ourselves to saving our French Art Deco movie palace, the Boyd Theatre in Philadelphia (www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org), but it would be a shame not to also keep the remarkable “American Art Deco” (i.e. streamlined moderne) Yeadon theater designed by John Eberson.
In addition to the Yeadon, Rob Bender has other marvelous photos on his site including those he took of some open historic Philadelphia suburban theaters (Bala, Bryn Mawr, Narberth, Phoenixville’s Colonial), closed suburban theaters in Ardmore and the closed Philadelphia’s Uptown (including interior shots of this Art Deco masterpiece), and some in New Jersey and elsewhere.
http://www.robbender.com/gallery/theaters
I’ve put my photos of the Bala, and another open movie house in the Philadelphia suburb of Jenkintown, the Hiway, here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/
Please patronize the historic theaters!
Couldn’t the theatre be restored and at least used as a youth center?
My hometown theatre, the Grand in Westfield NY (CT listed) went this same route in the early 90’s and now it is gone forever. It, too, was an art deco theatre though did not have the Eberson connection. Don’t let this happen to the very art deco and unique Yeadon Theatre!!
If there is a preservation group in Yeadon, they should at least retrieve the art deco artifacts before the building were to come down and I sincerely hope that won’t be the case! Many of the items on eBay would go for big money, but having said that the artifacts should be restored and remain in the theatre for future generations to enjoy!