I go to Temple and drive past the Uptown every day on my way to school. It really is a gorgeous building and I’m sad to see it in such disrepair. I’m only 25 years old and I’ve never seen movie theatres or concert halls like the Uptown or the Boyd in use during my lifetime. It’s a shame because buildings like these really are works of art, and as a movie history buff, I wish they could make a comeback.
I did want to comment that some of the photos other people have posted several years ago look very little like the Uptown today. Last year (or maybe it was the year before), there was a lot of work being done on the theatre – the facade was restored a bit and the marquee was fixed up. They put new lights in the “Uptown” sign (although many of them have burned out again since I don’t think they ever turned the lights off!) There is still wooden boards covering the entrance with murals of the Jackson 5 and other things I don’t remember off hand. In late 2007, there was a nice mural done on the side of the building (you can see it if you’re coming North up Broad Street) with Richard Pryor, and other Motown acts that I assume performed at the theatre at one time.
The only sad thing now is that the theatre is still not being used as far as I can tell and I haven’t seen any work done on actual restoration since early 2007 (not including the mural!)
I go to Temple and drive past the Uptown every day on my way to school. It really is a gorgeous building and I’m sad to see it in such disrepair. I’m only 25 years old and I’ve never seen movie theatres or concert halls like the Uptown or the Boyd in use during my lifetime. It’s a shame because buildings like these really are works of art, and as a movie history buff, I wish they could make a comeback.
I did want to comment that some of the photos other people have posted several years ago look very little like the Uptown today. Last year (or maybe it was the year before), there was a lot of work being done on the theatre – the facade was restored a bit and the marquee was fixed up. They put new lights in the “Uptown” sign (although many of them have burned out again since I don’t think they ever turned the lights off!) There is still wooden boards covering the entrance with murals of the Jackson 5 and other things I don’t remember off hand. In late 2007, there was a nice mural done on the side of the building (you can see it if you’re coming North up Broad Street) with Richard Pryor, and other Motown acts that I assume performed at the theatre at one time.
The only sad thing now is that the theatre is still not being used as far as I can tell and I haven’t seen any work done on actual restoration since early 2007 (not including the mural!)