https://hiddencityphila.org/2017/02/a-royal-loss-on-south-street/
Royal Theatre in its heyday - interior
I spent many a Saturday afternoon in the Royal Theatre (1524 South Street) when I was growing up. On those afternoons I was dropped off at the premiere movie house in South Philly around noon by mom, grandmom, grandpop or an uncle (we walked there as the Royal was @6 blocks from our house). I met all my friends there.
Admission was 35 cents if you were under 12 years of age and 50 cents if you were an older child, or perceived as older. That's were I got unfairly charged a few times as I was a tall kid. To solve that, my mom brought a copy of my birth certificate with her or she'd give it to whomever'd was gonna take me to the Royal that day so they could wave it in the face of the cashier. Good Old Mom. What a card!
The kiddie matinee lasted a little over 4 hours and screened a plethora of cartoons and two movies. My friends and I would sit in the main hall if the balcony was full. We'd gorge on popcorn, Jujyfruits, Dots, M&Ms and soda. And either barfed or poopped the rest of the evening from the sugar overload.
I loved it!
Oh the chaos! We'd scream over the film and we'd throw Dots and popcorn and Jujyfruits at each other and we'd run up and down the aisles. It was the only time we could be unbridled heathens. These matinees gave adults a break from us crazy kiddos and vice versa.
I loved it!.
Unfortunately, the grand lady fell into major disrepair. She'd been made an historic site as the Royal had been the spot for many African-American performers and had been a Black-owned and Black-operated venue from 1919 to 1970. With the city's promise of urban renewal came the plan for the Crosstown Expressway, a high speed thoroughfare which was to cut right through the middle my 'hood. The mere mention of this project, caused many businesses to leave the area or shut down altogether. The Royal did the latter.
Strangely, or should I say strategically, the mention of the Expressway did what developers wanted all along - offer Black-owned enterprises pennies and make a land grab for sellers' properties.. It worked. The Crosstown Expressway which was supposed to cut down on traffic, and be a part of Interstste 695 was NEVER built! But all those empty businesses now beloned to new owners. This was the mainly Black west side of South Street; the mainly Italian east side had begun its supposed renaissance a few years before. Both populations disliked the change in their neighborhoods.
So, the shuttered Royal Theatre became a ball to be tossed back and forth whenever some city faction wanted something. It was declared historic which did it scant good as it sat there empty, untouched and rotting for 50 years. It changed hands several times with no renovation. Music mogul Kenny Gamble owned it once and did little to help it. The last update reported that some developer was going to retain the architechturally important facade but with a combination of retail space and a six-story, 57 unit apt. building with seven townhouses behind it and parking below it
Oh joy! Overpriced real estate for hipsters.
https://billypenn.com/2018/10/25/54-apartments-are-about-to-replace-the-historic-royal-theater/
That was 2017. If delays persist there will be no historic facade to preserve. The Royal will just disintegrate. Little old, cynical me thinks that is what the devekoper wants. If she crunbles, the developer won't have to follow the rules for renovating historic buildings. He'll keep the front and do whatever, however, he wants with the rest.
There is one success story concerning the rescue of a formerly Black-owned, Black-operated theater in Philly - The Met. That grand old lady of North Philly re-opened her doors this past December 2018. She is a multi-use facility. - concert hall, theater, church. She looks wonderful.
I'd hoped the Royal would have gotten the royal treatment. She deserves no less.
North Philly's The Met restored
The Met's restored interior
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