Liberty Theatre
1425 E. Cecil B. Moore Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19121
1425 E. Cecil B. Moore Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19121
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Architects: Albert E. Westover
Styles: French Renaissance
Nearby Theaters
Not to be confused with the Liberty Theatre at Torresdale Avenue. This Liberty Theatre was located on E. Columbia Avenue (today renamed E. Cecil B. Moore Avenue). It was opened on December 5, 1910 and was built on the site of a small Liberty Theatre. Designed by architect Albert E. Westover with a seating capacity of 1,800. It began as a vaudeville theatre and also a drama playhouse. From 1914 movies were added to the program. In 1924 it was equipped with a Kimball 2 manual 8 ranks organ. Like the other Liberty Theatre, by 1941 they were both operated by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. This Liberty Theatre was closed on January 1, 1968 with the documentary “Africa Addio”, Dean Martin in “Rough Night in Jericho” & James Drury in “The Young Warriors. It was demolished in 1974.
Contributed by
Dave Litterer
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
This is a 1971 photo from phillyhistory.org. They place the theater in the 1600 block of North Carlisle:
http://tinyurl.com/5mb7ut
I was thinking 1600 N. Columbia. You’re probably right.
Here is a shot of police checking the roof of the Liberty in 1964 after the Columbia Avenue riots.
http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/ajaxhelper/?CISOROOT=/p15037coll3&CISOPTR=6057&action=2&DMSCALE=25.00000&DMWIDTH=1400&DMHEIGHT=1400
1425 West Columbia Avenue or 1425 East Columbia Avenue? The current street view and map go to East, but that area doesn’t look anything like the pictures. The address on Carlisle could have been on the side of a theater that fronted on West Columbia. West Columbia has been renamed Cecil B. Moore Avenue (after the theater’s demise), so any address on Columbia would probably automatically map as East.
This would have been just West of Broad Street.
Try this map link: http://goo.gl/maps/zztLu
Since Dave removed his comment, I’ll repost my comment from June 2, 2014 at 6:54 pm. Sorry Dave, you’re a little confused! It’s EAST Columbia Avenue (today renamed EAST Cecil B. Moore Avenue).
Why does it state that there is “little information on this theatre”? That seems to be quite untrue. Virtually every booking is listed in the local paper and it is given coverage in the trade press of the day. It has complete coverage in film yearbooks. What more does one want?
A . Fred Zimmerman launched the New Liberty on December 5, 1910 with acts ranging from the DeCosta Troupe to The Four TransAtlantics. It was located at 1425-1431 Columbia Avenue. The former Liberty Theatre was to have been razed with the new theater in the same spot according to articles in 1909 when the project was announced. However, when the project was actually created, the building plans allowed the former Liberty to remain in place continuing as a low-priced vaudeville house at 5 and 10 cent matinee shows. The upgraded New Liberty was proposed as a 2400-seat facility but reduced to a 1900-seat facility that had 800 balcony seats supported by a cantilever system 72 feet long. The venue was steel reinforced, fireproof, and had an exterior of brick and terra cotta. The venue was created with a Louis XV architectural style with decorations to match. The architect was famed Boston, Philadelphia and New York theater designer, Albert E. Westover. It opened with M.W. Taylor at the helm as a vaudeville house.
The Liberty switched away from vaudeville to motion pictures and equipped for sound to remain viable. It celebrated its 58th birthday in December of 1968 but that would be its swan song. “The Liberty Theater closed January 1, 1968 with “Africa Addio,” George Peppard in “Rough Night in Jericho” and James Drury in “The Young Warriors.” It was later demolished.