Bart Blatstein, founder and CEO of Tower Investments, is set to revive the 17-screen movie theater that closed in 2020 in South Philadelphia, as reported by Jakes Blumgart for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The theater will return to its former home at Riverview Plaza. “The theater, to me, it was always the highest and best use for that block,” Blatstein said. “And the demographics are amazing. They were amazing when I opened it 30 years ago. They’re even better now. There’s a lot of kids now back in South Philly, in Center City.”
The revamped Riverview will feature two restaurant spaces and a smaller entertainment venue.
Once completed, the new theater will be the largest in both South Philadelphia and Center City, surpassing the AMC Theatre in the Fashion District.
Originally opened in 1991, the Riverview Theater brought a nine-screen complex to an unexpected corner of the city. Blatstein announced that construction is slated to begin at the end of this year, with a target completion date in late 2025.
