Holiday Art Theatre
4204 Kensington Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19124
4204 Kensington Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19124
2 people
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an even further internet search (imagine that !) lists the building now as a preschool/daycare center.
Given what the building formerly was, I hope that irony isn’t lost on anyone.
One of the programs hosted there is ‘little minds, big dreams’ and they give a phone number of 215-292-3915
A 2021 Google street view shows that the theatre building is now home to “Someone’s Brilliant Performing Arts LLC”.
Articles: * https://philly.newspapers.com/clip/6942134/art_holiday_theatre/
* https://philly.newspapers.com/clip/6942090/adult_cinemas_vs_home_video/
This opened as an art theatre that shown uncensored movies called Aart Holiday on November 8th, 1959. By 1960 it appeared on the listings as Art Holiday until it closed. Ad in the photo section.
The Holiday Art Theatre has been shuttered for at least 8-½ years now. FOR RENT signs (@ $1200) still hang from its marquee, although there doesn’t seem to be any interest! Things are far from perfect in East Frankford, but they’re a 100% better since the dirty movie closed!
The Holiday Art is for rent. TheaterBuff1 should rent it before the Taliban does. He could call it the Windsor again and screen first-run films. Just imagine, a first-run theatre in East Frankford. Go for it Buff!
Someone has told me today,
There is a dumpster outside of the Art Holiday filled with seats this week……
For the above post. I understand the closing, tearing down of these theatres is sad and they can never be replaced. I managed many theatres in the 60’s to mid 70’s. The good time for most of them. But sometimes the garbage you write takes the enjoyment of reading these sites. Relax and STOP with the Taliban remarks. rg
Story from the Frankford Gazette with a pictyre. View link
I just got wind (call me slow) that the Holiday Art, or “Art Holiday” as it’s better known, is either now offically closed or about to close soon — View link
This article appeared in the Northeast Times for December 13, 2006 regarding the latest with this theater:
Theater’s future has
East Frankford a bit jumpy
By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer
Concerns about the old Art Holiday theater, at 4204 Kensington Ave., becoming a strip club topped the agenda of last week’s East Frankford Civic Association meeting.
About two dozen people who attended the session in a Frankford Hospital conference room agreed to sign petitions to block any attempt for a zoning variance to make it happen.
Liz McCollom-Nazaria, a representative for newly elected 7th district City Councilman Dan Savage, said she intercepted a phone call from a Realtor looking for support from the councilman for such a variance.
She told the caller that she didn’t believe the councilman would give support to the change, and that the civic association also would oppose it.
Peggy Hoch, president of the civic group, had not been contacted by any representatives looking to purchase the building and change its zoning, which would require a letter of support from the neighborhood organization.
Mitchell Lichtenstein, an agent with Devon-based John Matthew Realtors Inc. GMAC Real Estate, confirmed on Tuesday that the property is for sale for $324,900 but said that a live adult entertainment venue “wasn’t going to happen.” In fact, he said, a church group has looked at the property.
The Art Holiday was built in the 1920s as a silent-movie theater. Today, it shows X-rated films. Debbie Klak, president of the Frankford Historical Society, said the site marks the spot where the first July 4 celebrations took place in the country. It also housed a location where Thomas Jefferson read over the Declaration of Independence, she said.
© Northeast Times 2006
Ah, William Harold Lee strikes again! And can this man, one of the most brilliant leading movie theater architects of the 20th century, not get any respect or what? But surely the fact that this theater remains fully operational, though clearly not in showing the best possible films, attests to his practicality in theater design, given the totally rundown state of the community all around it.
In terms of getting good photographs of it as it is now, that would be best left up to anyone who really knows their way around there well as it is now, who are expertly street-wise when it comes to parts of the city such as that. And with all the advances of home video, cable-TV, DVD and the Internet, I couldn’t even imagine who still goes to it. For going in that theater disguised as a pervert, well what’s a pervert look like these days? And why am I suddenly having flashbacks of George C. Scott in that movie, “Hardcore”? His chewing gum and snidely laughing, “No man,” when asked if he’s a cop. But that was a whole different era. A much better disguise perhaps these days would be that of a homeless person looking to catch some shut eye, or, given how that part of Philadelphia is these days, a cop. Pretty ironic how the times have changed, eh?
More references here, including that interior redecoration was in 1938, and an exterior photo. It would be neat to see a photo of the interior as redone in 1938. And, it would be nice to have photos of the exterior from now linked to this site. I wander if any interior decoration is still visible? Anybody want to pretend to be a pervert & buy a ticket just to see?
View link
The late Irvin R. Glazer in his out of print hardback
“Philadelphia Theatres, A-Z” (1986) has the following entry:
ACE THEATRE (Windsor, Holiday), 4204 Kensington Avenue, capacity 920. The Ace Theatre is a two story plain red brick structure with a large multi-colored marquee. It was built in the early 1920’s as the Windsor, a silent movie house. It was entirely re-decorated in the moderne style by theater architect W. H. Lee after it became the Ace. In the ‘70’s, it became the Holiday, a porno house. Most of the exterior decoration is hidden by the city transit authority’s elevated railway structure."