Logan Theatre
4732 N. Broad Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19141
4732 N. Broad Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19141
10 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 69 of 69 comments
Bob, there is one other theater in Philadelphia that might be the one, except that the location doesn’t match. It would be the Metropolitan Opera House at Broad and Poplar (not on the outskirts of town—a mile north of City Hall, if that). Built around the start of the 20th Century, it was owned for many years by an evangelical organization that did not have the kind of funds needed for proper maintenance. It hosted many kinds of events over the years but I don’t think it was ever a regular movie venue, hence outside the scope of this site.
The Erlen (theater #9129) was right on the city line on Cheltenham Avenue, was occupied by a church and had a seating capacity similar to the Logan’s, but it may not have had quite the grandeur you describe. I could be wrong on that, though.
About ten-fifteen years ago, I was driving into Philadelphia. In a rather run-down neighborhood on the outskirts of town, I saw this immense building that took up what seemed like the entire city block. It was massive, and certainly got my attention. It looked like it might have been an opera house at one time, and there were two separate entrances. It was being used as a church, and was in pretty poor condition. The caretaker let me see the interior, and they had strung netting across the auditorium to catch loose plaster that was falling from the ceiling.
I scanned all the Philadelphia theater listings on this site, and this is the only one which seems to match the building which I had seen. Is this the same structure? If not, does anyone know which theater I am describing?
Thanks so much for any information.
Bob
My father-in-law, Ray Hainsworth, was a manager at the Logan in the 1940’s. In those days film was expensive so they typically shared movies with another theater. The Logan shared their movies with the Uptown Theater which was about 10 miles south on Broad Street. During a double feature the two theater shared one copy of each of the movies. During the shorts/news between movies it was often my father-in-law’s job to get on the Broad Street Subway and exchange movies with an Uptown Theater usher waiting on the subway platform. Occasionaly thing would go wrong and he would return to the Logan a little late to an impatient audience.
My father-in-law, Ray Hainsworth, was a manager at the Logan in the 1940’s. In those days film was expensive so they typically shared movies with another theater. The Logan shared their movies with the Uptown Theater which was about 10 miles south on Broad Street. During a double feature the two theater shared one copy of each of the movies. During the shorts/news between movies it was often my father-in-law’s job to get on the Broad Street Subway and exchange movies with an Uptown Theater usher waiting on the subway platform. Occasionaly thing would go wrong and he would return to the Logan a little late to an impatient audience.
My father-in-law, Ray Hainsworth, was a manager at the Logan in the 1940’s. In those days film was expensive so they typically shared movies with another theater. The Logan shared their movies with the Uptown Theater which was about 10 miles south on Broad Street. During a double feature the two theater shared one copy of each of the movies. During the shorts/news between movies it was often my father-in-law’s job to get on the Broad Street Subway and exchange movies with an Uptown Theater usher waiting on the subway platform. Occasionaly thing would go wrong and he would return to the Logan a little late to an impatient audience.
AS OF THIS DATE THE THEATRE STILL REMAINS EMPTY. NO ACTIVITY AT ALL. IT’S JUST FALLING APART.
bmommombyrd: It was this theatre (logan) It look like it was being cleaned up or out. The activity has stopped almost as fast as it started. RAY
Ray: Which theatre did you pass by that had activity going on outside?
UPDATE: Just passed this theatre today. Activity outside. Looks like someone may have bought this theatre and plans to something with it.Three gentlemen going over the ext. of the building mainly the front. Will keep you posted.
yeah, I passed by it recently and noticed the lack of activity. It’s in such a great location…ho hum.
NO new activity at the theatre in several weeks. For a short time a dumpster was in the parking lot but its gone.
Alex 1: Several of the old single screen theatres in Montco have been done over (2 or 3 screens). In Bucks co. everything is gone. Most small town theatres are gone. Just a couple are around either
operated by non=profit orig. or mom and pop. The mom & pop operation have little or no money so these theatres are falling apart. A little theatre in Souderton is showing its age and lack of repairs. One theatre that was mom & pop was the 1812 in sellersville. It was clean, well kept, great picture and NOT a bad seat in the house. The owner retired and sold the house. It is not a reel theatre anymore. I’m not really up to date on N.J. I did read about the troubles with the Pitman theatre in Pitman, N.J. (it has a web site) Talk to you later ray
Thanks Ray. I just read an article in this month’s Philly mag about Goldenberg’s plans for the Boyd and although I think it’s great that a large developer wants to get involved, the more I read the sadder I get. All the politics involved makes my head spin. And although I’m a huge fan of live performance I wish they would keep the Boyd as a cinema. There are so many things they could do with it. Things that would make it a real part of the community again. Too bad I don’t know anyone in City Hall, too bad I don’t have 33 million to restore it and too bad people like yourself, people that really care what happens to it aren’t running the show. Oh, and Goldenberg has plans to restore the Uptown Theater too.
Do you know of any theaters outside the city, say on the main line or across the bridge in Jersey that are currently closed?
Alex 1: The Boyd in center city. If they can save this theatre it would be the only orig. movie house in c.c. You really can’t count the Prince. When Ted Turner restored several of his classic films they never played phila. because he couldn’t find a theatre in c.c. This is very SAD for Phila. The only other theatre is the Uptown on N.Broad St. but the area is not very good. ALL the other theatres ARE GONE!
I see someone wrote in and said the Logan Theatre was bought. Does anyone know if any restoration has begun? Also, for those of you who write in a lot and seem to know a lot about the local Philly theaters I have a question for ya. Which currently closed Philly or surrounding area theater do you think would be the most successful if a developer took it on and began to restore it?
The Logan: Cap. 1894 (orchestra 1124, boxes 40, mezzanine 303, bal. 427). Theatre opened 1-31-1924 The orig. policy was stage and screen shows changing twice weekly. Road show pictures played here after leaving center city. I saw some great films in this theatre. Good memories.
Does anyone know the history of the Logan Theatre? Who it was named after and what type of theatre was it? Was it poplar? Did any stars go there? etc.?
The Logan is EMPTY again. The last church that was in it moved out when they built a new church. I remember this theatre well. As a kid I would visit it often. The Broad and the Rockland were in walking range. Late last year (2003)I was in the theatre and what a shock.
The roof is bad it leaks. The Aud. is a mess. It’s sad to see this once nice movie house in this condition. A sale sign was up but this year it’s gone. If someone bought it good luck.
The Logan Theatre is located at 4732 N. Broad Street and it seated 1784 people.