Olympic Theater Concert Hall
851 Prospect Avenue,
Bronx,
NY
10459
851 Prospect Avenue,
Bronx,
NY
10459
7 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cinema Circuit Corp., RKO
Architects: E.C. Horne
Styles: Baroque
Previous Names: Prospect Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Everyone who ever grew up in the South Bronx remembers the Prospect Theatre. It opened November 12, 1910. In August 1934 it began operating as a Yiddish theatre. It was later operated by RKO for many years. In the late-1940’s and early-1950’s the Prospect Theatre was operated by the Cinema Circuit Corp. chain.
Restored to its original beauty in 2000, it was used for live performances as the Olympic Theater Concert Hall until its recent closure in 2006. It was taken over by a church who proceeded to gut the building internally in 2008. They were gone from the building by 2010.
Contributed by
Vasilis Papaioanou
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Recent comments (view all 46 comments)
Currently for sale for $4.5 million.
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19773768/851-PROSPECT-AVENUE-Bronx-NY/
I have many photos of this theater which was gutted and is now for sale. I am looking for any materials on this theater or the the one across the street, the President(Arcadia) or down the block, the Burland and the Empire. There is very little material to be found at the NYPL and nothing at the Bronx Historical Society. Anyone know who the architects were for these theaters?
I wish to discourage anyone from entering this theater. The stairs have rotted away, there are holes in the floors and outside the building and some are quite deep. I would presume by the loss of one of the water tanks from the south side of the roof, the ladders having fallen off the building etc. It is quite unstable. The walls are in remarkably good shape. I have many more photos and some video but posting to this site is rather slow and I have more photos from other theaters in the New York City area. Does anyone know who the architect was for this theater? There is almost no research available on theaters in the Bronx unless it is the Opera House or the Paradise Theater. That means not at the Bronx Historical and New York Historical Societies, the NYPL Performing Arts branch etc. Thank you for whatever you might have on theaters in the South Bronx
im interested in getting this place and its not worth the 4.5million its being listed for hop someone sees my comment and reaches out for any ideas we can all be apart of. let me know as soon as you see my comment email me about this place prices plans and restrictions on it if any…please
I am interested in acquiring this property. I’ve met and spoken with someone in previous times. My plan is to restore the great old theatre to it’s original natural beauty. This will become a multi purpose facility such as for plays, meetings, films, vocal/ choir rehearsals, museum tours and much, much more. Negotiations are not active and still pending. Anyone with any ideas or wishing to communicate regarding this theater, or simply wish to comment, I can be reached at
Wouldn’t it make more sense for this to be listed as Prospect Theatre or RKO Prospect, which were used for all of its cinematic history? Olympic was later used for a concert venue that never proved successful.
Comfortably, the “rule” is that the last name of a venue is the one listed. Exceptions seem to be the norm, however. Since all of the names on the site will give you access it doesn’t usually matter.
The church seems to have made a terrible decision. If the building was renovated in 2000 they probably could have started up operations as is. More renovations could have followed as they got the funds together.
Kevin - responding to your comment in 2017. Archivist here at NYPL for the Performing Arts. I just finished re-housing the theatre folder for the Prospect (Bronx). There is only one item in the folder - a newspaper clipping from NY Times Aug 21, 1934 saying: “Two Theatres to Open (title): Signs that the new Yiddish theatrical season is gradually bestirring itself after a long interval of silence are made known in two announcements concerning outlying houses. For the coming season the Prospect Theatre in the Bronx will be operated by Nathan Goldberg and Jacob Jacobs, actor-managers. Before the opening early next month the theatre will be extensively renovated. The bills will consist of musical comedies, operettas and dramatic attractions. A resident company will appear in them. In Brooklyn the Hopkinson Theatre also will reopen its doors early next month. Anna Miels, a musical comedy actress, has been engaged to appear in the leading feminine roles opposite Julius Nathanson.”
The first time I was at this movie theater was on Monday June 18, 1979 checking out the now disappointing Game of Death with the still funny af Fast Break