Company halts Boyd rehab work Live Nation had been renovating the old Chestnut St. movie palace for big Broadway shows. City officials hoped it would spark a comeback.

Live Nation, the national media company that promised to reincarnate the sumptuous but shuttered Boyd movie palace as a first-class venue for big, traveling Broadway shows, has withdrawn its construction crews and is reconsidering the project, a company spokesman confirmed yesterday.

Live Nation apparently decided to shut down the project because construction costs on the Chestnut Street theater have risen at an alarming pace, said Duane Bumb, deputy director of the city's Commerce Department.

"They need to go back and see how they can repackage this to make it financially feasible," Bumb said. That could mean bringing in a new investor, selling the theater, or asking for a city subsidy.

So far, Live Nation has not asked for the city's help, Bumb said.

The news that Live Nation has suddenly gotten cold feet about the 2,400-seat Boyd project has alarmed Philadelphia preservationists, who have spent the last four years working to save the elaborately appointed Art Deco building at 19th and Chestnut Streets.

"To think this theater is once again at risk of being gutted or demolished is just sad," said Howard B. Haas, a Center City lawyer who chairs the Friends of the Boyd. "We're concerned and upset."

It's not just the preservationists. If the large building continues to remain dark, city business leaders fear, it could keep its stretch of Chestnut Street from making a full comeback.

With the recent opening of DiBruno's gourmet market and a clutch of new restaurants, the dowdy retail corridor west of 17th Street has evolved into a significant dining crossroads. But the Boyd is still seen as a critical anchor.

The future of the Boyd became clouded in January when Live Nation took over the renovation project from Clear Channel Communications. Clear Channel, which owns a vast network of radio stations and billboards, had spent several years amassing a portfolio of historic urban venues suitable for Broadway-style shows, only to abandon the theater business this year.

Although Live Nation inherited those theaters, it is primarily interested in venues for rock concerts. At this point, a Live Nation spokesman said, the company has made no decisions about the Boyd's future.

"We are looking at a number of options for the theater . . . but have not made any definitive decisions at this time," spokesman John Vlautin said, reading from a prepared statement.