by KYW's Mike Dunn
An effort in Philadelphia city council to save the Boyd Theater -- the center city movie palace on the auction block -- may be too little, too late.
Howard Haas of the group "Friends of the Boyd" told a city council committee that a new owner of the Boyd could destroy its interior:
"At any time they could apply for, and receive, a permit to completely demolish the interior of the Boyd Theater, as long as it doesn't affect the exterior. That's the state of the law."
Haas asked for Council committee approval of a measure that would give the city's Historical Commission the power to designate building interiors as historic.
Currently it only decides on exteriors. The committee okayed the plan but final passage won't come until after council's summer break, by which time the Boyd's future will likely have been determined (see previous story).
(Photo from the Irvin R. Glazer Collection, Athenaeum of Philadelphia)
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