{"nrhp_refnum":"82003817","name":"Uptown Theater and Office Building","other_names":["Uptown Theater"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2240-2248 N. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.987328278000064,"lon":-75.15610265299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-07-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story theater and office building at 2240-2248 North Broad Street on the west side of Broad Street between Susquehanna and Dauphin Streets in North Philadelphia. It was erected in 1928 from designs by the architectural offices of Magaziner, Eberhard and Harris.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant as the work of an important Philadelphia architectural office, as evidence of commercial growth along North Broad Street, as a movie house serving a growing North Philadelphia community, and as a fine example of Art Deco design. Its exterior and interior ornament are presented as among the few surviving modernistic theater designs in the city.","narrative":"Erected in 1928 on North Broad Street in North Philadelphia, the five-story Uptown Theater and Office Building was designed by the Philadelphia firm Magaziner, Eberhard and Harris. Its steel and concrete frame is clad in brown-toned brick, terra cotta reliefwork and limestone, with vertical bands and setbacks that give the facade its lively Art Deco character. Built and operated by Samuel Shapiro and later run jointly with the Stanley Company, the theater opened with an organ overture, a dedication address by the president of Temple University, and an all-talking feature. Its interior once held rooms furnished with pieces from John Wanamaker's store and glass panels by Eastman Studios of New York. Much of that decoration is gone, but one mural by local artist Paul Domville survives in the foyer. The building is regarded as a clear record of the commercial growth of North Broad Street and of the movie houses that served its working and middle-class neighborhoods.","period_of_significance":"1927-1929","architect_builder":"Magaziner, Eberhard & Harris","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vacant and awaiting rehabilitation; interior significantly altered and badly deteriorated; original marquee, ticket box and doors removed in the 1950s.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.949602-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/82003817.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003817/d75532f1cf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003817/d75532f1cf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"See below","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WTP_B02_Audrey_2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">See below</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WTP_B02_Audrey_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997410","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Theater_(Philadelphia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7899456"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/uptown-theater-and-office-building-82003817/"}