Royal Theater (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Encyclopedia
The Royal Theater was a center of African American culture in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Built in 1919, the theater closed in 1970, after attendance dwindled and the threat of the Crosstown Expressway
had decimated the neighborhood. (The proposed highway was never built.)
In 2000, Kenny Gamble’s Universal Companies purchased the Royal, 1522 and 1536 South, buildings on either side of the theater, as well as 1523, 1537 and 1539 Kater St. (the narrow street just south of South) and 1521–1523 South St. (across the street), from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia for about $300,000.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Built in 1919, the theater closed in 1970, after attendance dwindled and the threat of the Crosstown Expressway
Interstate 695 (Pennsylvania)
Interstate 695 was a proposed three-digit Interstate Highway that would have connected Interstate 95 in Southeast Philadelphia, at the Philadelphia International Airport, with I-95 near the Delaware River waterfront near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge...
had decimated the neighborhood. (The proposed highway was never built.)
In 2000, Kenny Gamble’s Universal Companies purchased the Royal, 1522 and 1536 South, buildings on either side of the theater, as well as 1523, 1537 and 1539 Kater St. (the narrow street just south of South) and 1521–1523 South St. (across the street), from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia for about $300,000.