The architectural committee expressed concern about the number of proposed signs along North Broad, given the intensity of LED lighting and that some of them will be fixed and while others will be motion displays. At the time, the tenant hadn’t been announced, but funder Billy Procida described it as one of the “nation’s biggest concert promoters.” But after Hammerstein I fell into debt and sold the property, the theater went on to play many roles, from a movie theater, to a circus venue, a ballroom, and most recently, a church for the Holy Ghost congregation.Īlthough the Holy Ghost vacated the property years ago, it still owns the theater along with Blumenfeld, who last May revealed plans to return it into a world-class concert venue with a $35 million renovation. McElfatrick, it sat some 4,000 people and was the largest theater of its kind in the world. Broad Street was built in 1908 by Oscar Hammerstein I, the grandfather of Oscar Hammerstein II. The Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House at 858 N. The designers based their proposal on this historical photo of the building taken in 1937, when it functioned as a movie theater.

The design proposal by AOS Architects calls for four illuminated signs to be installed along the North Broad facade, including what the committee called the “football sign” in the center that reads “MET.” Another two, the most prominent of the bunch, will include a three-story sign on the side of the building at North Broad and Poplar, and a large billboard-like sign on top of the building. “But while we’re doing the facade, I want to give it some sense of identity.”

“Right now, our focus is on making Live Nation happy,” said developer and partial owner Eric Blumenfeld. There has been no commitment for a restaurant tenant yet. It was also revealed at the meeting that entertainment operator Live Nation has signed onto the project. The Philadelphia Historical Commission’s architectural committee today unanimously approved plans to install multiple 1930s-era LED signs on the Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House on North Broad. Plus: Live Nation has signed onto the project

Metropolitan opera house 2017