Boyd Theatre Demo Begins

Workers have apparently begun dismantling Philadelphia’s historic Boyd Theatre, three days after owner Live Nation received permission from the city’s historical commission to raze the once-lavish movie palace in preparation for sale.

Photo: Copyright The Irvin R. Glazer Collection, Athenaeum of Philadelp

Grand Lobby.

Preservation advocates told the Philadelphia Inquirer heavy machinery was being moved into the Boyd’s auditorum March 17 as the sounds of hammering could be heard through exit doors.

“I can’t think of what else they’d be doing other than demolition,” Preservation Alliance advocacy director Ben Leech told the paper, adding that a demolition permit was posted on the building’s façade over the weekend.

Live Nation reportedly won the permission to demolish the historically designated building on the grounds it had become a financial hardship, on the condition the façade be preserved.

The company has been trying to sell the Boyd since 2008, when it won preliminary approval to sell the property to a Philadelphia developer for a hotel and commercial use.

Now, the buyer intends to build a multiplex movie theatre on the site.

The demolition marks the end of a decade-long struggle by preservationists to save the building, which has been closed since 2002 but was acquired by Clear Channel Entertainment in 2005.

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