Olympic Theater Concert Hall
851 Prospect Avenue,
Bronx,
NY
10459
851 Prospect Avenue,
Bronx,
NY
10459
4 people
favorited this theater
Everyone who ever grew up in the South Bronx remembers the Prospect Theatre. It opened in 1918 and was 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 peformances as the Olympic Theater Concert Hall until its recent closure in 2006.
Contributed by
Vasilis Papaioanou
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Recent comments (view all 44 comments)
So, has the church finished “Raping” the old Prospect Theatre?
Hopefully, they ran out of money before too much damage could be done.
The exterior of the Prospect can be seen in the 1982 Italian slasher classic NEW YORK RIPPER. There’s a quick shot at night with the marquee lit up, and a shot in the day where a character comes down the elevated train stairs and walks by the theater and then around the corner. If I can pull a still from the DVD I’ll try to post it.
The church web site is no longer completely functional. It would appear that they gutted the theatre, than stopped upon realizing they did not have the funds to carry out their urban paradise concept. At least the group working on the Elmwood had the money to follow through on their grand designs.
This a text book case of grandiosity, short-sightedness and poor planning. They could’ve been holding services in the auditorium. Now, perhaps, they are running from unpaid contractors.
Actually, when I click on a link from the April 08 comment I can get to all areas of the church web site. For some reason my December comment takes me to a bunch of dead links. But, they still don’t have any mention of the theatre project linked to the main ministry site. This would seem to suggest the project has stalled.
here’s a picture i took of it last week:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/awertz/3963814745/
thanks for all the great history and old photos!
Hard to believe that after all the effort that was made to restore this theatre that it remains shuttered. Granted that it sits in a hard-scrabble community, but where is the wide-visioned impressario who can make a venue like this or the Paradise successful. The Loews 175th St. in Washington Heights is now attracting top tier talent such as the Allman Brothers & Bob Dylan. Is no one willing to perform in the Bronx?
This theatre is in terrible condition. It should be saved.
Pretty sad looking photo Andrew.
Now the church web site appears to be completely gone.
http://www.alttabernacle.org only leads to a place-holder. All of their content is gone.
Judging by the decisions they made I guess I am not surprised.
Here’s a link to a vintage view as the Prospect Theatre: pelparktimes