Let’s say you want to watch Casablanca tonight. First you do a search online to see what services are streaming the movie. Hopefully you have a subscription to one of them. Otherwise, you might be on the hook for $3.99 to watch this 1942 classic. Turn the clock back 25 years, maybe you’d have rented the movie from Blockbuster. Turn the clock back another 25 years, and the only way you would’ve seen the film was if it happened to be showing on TV. Go all the way back to 1942, and you either saw the film at a movie theater upon its release, or you never saw it. In other words, and not to state the absurdly obvious, but media consumption has changed quite a bit over the last 83 years.
To wit, the urban landscape of America was once dotted with movie houses and Philadelphia was no exception. According to Cinematreasures, Philadelphia has been home to 334 movie theaters over the last 100+ years. Only 17 are still operating today, which is truly a remarkable dropoff. About half of the old cinemas have been demolished, with the rest ostensibly being transformed into other uses along the way. A fine example of a former movie house hiding in plain site is at 1412-14 S. Broad St., the former Southern Theatre. This theater operated from 1915-1952, and today you can vaguely make out its original use if you look carefully at the facade.
Kevin O’Brien Studio purchased the building in 2012 and has been operating out of the space ever since. Per their website, this fabric business utilizes hand weaving, hand embroidery, and hand-dying techniques to produce their wares. They’ve been terrific caretakers for the building for over a decade. Check out this view of their offices – this looks like a terrific place to work!
This summer, the building was listed for sale, which suggests that the business is moving on to another location. The property, zoned for mixed-use and running all the way to Carlisle Street, measures about 5,500 sqft. Currently listed for $1.3M, it would be a terrific redevelopment site, offering by-right opportunities for a four-story building with a bit of density over commercial.
That being said, we hope that’s not what happens here. Like we indicated above, at least half of the old cinemas in Philadelphia have met the wrecking ball over the years and we would be sad to see that happen at this location. While the traces of its original use are subtle, the exterior building is still quite unique, adding to the architectural interest on South Broad Street. And you can see, the space on the 2nd floor looks great and would suit an office user or a residential conversion very well. We acknowledge this wouldn’t be the highest and best use, and also recognize that we have a soft spot for old movie houses, but nevertheless hope that whatever comes next for this property involves keeping the old Southern Theatre building around for at least another generation or two.