PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A glorious old opera house that takes up a full city block in Philadelphia will reopen as a live music venue.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (http://bit.ly/2pJFiHa ) that developer Eric Blumenfeld has entered an agreement with Live Nation to revive the Metropolitan Opera House for $45 million.
The theater on a major artery through the city was built in 1908 by impresario Oscar Hammerstein and served as an opera house and movie theater for its first three decades. Then a sports promoter bought it and held wrestling and boxing matches inside.
It sat vacant from 1988 to 1995, when a church bought the building.
Blumenfeld says the rehabbed 3,500-capacity music venue should open by the end of 2018.