United Palace

United Palace is a large historic theater and cultural venue at 4140 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building originally opened as Loew's 175th Street Theatre on February 22, 1930, one of five Loew's Wonder Theatres built in the New York metropolitan area. Designed by theater architect Thomas W. Lamb with interior work supervised in collaboration with Harold Rambusch, it was created during the peak era of American movie palaces, when cinemas were conceived as immersive civic attractions as much as places to watch films. The building occupies an entire city block bounded by Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue, and West 175th and 176th Streets. Its exterior is notable for an elaborate terracotta façade whose ornament draws on a broad mixture of architectural traditions, including Asian, Islamic, Egyptian, Aztec, Mayan, Mughal, Classical, Byzantine, and Romanesque references. The auditorium originally held more than 4,000 people and included a broad movie screen, a double stage, orchestra-pit lifts, and a Wonder Morton pipe organ manufactured by the Robert Morton Organ Company. The auditorium's seating capacity was reduced over time to approximately 3,400. The venue opened with both motion pictures and live stage entertainment. Its first program paired the MGM film Their Own Desire with the musical revue Pearls. Live stage presentations were discontinued soon after the opening because the initial business results were weaker than anticipated, although Loew's periodically considered restoring stage or vaudeville programming as audience patterns changed. The theater continued primarily as a cinema through the mid-twentieth century, adapting to the competitive pressures affecting large single-screen movie palaces. In 1969, television evangelist Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, widely known as Reverend Ike, acquired the theater. It became the headquarters of his United Church Science of Living Institute and was renamed United Palace. The change transformed the building from a commercial cinema into a religious and community institution while preserving much of its architectural fabric. The church later became associated with the name United Palace of Spiritual Arts. From the 1990s onward, Latin American music performers increasingly used the venue, helping reconnect the building with the diverse Washington Heights community and establishing it as a concert destination. Beginning in 2007, the church also rented the theater for outside events. Its uses have included concerts, graduations, film and television shoots, meetings, recording sessions, and other cultural or civic gatherings. The cultural programming arm is known as United Palace of Cultural Arts. The building was designated a New York City individual landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2016. During the 2010s and 2020s, parts of the technical infrastructure, including the movie screen and sound system, were upgraded. The historic seven-story pipe organ, which had been sealed for decades after World War II and rediscovered in 1970, underwent restoration work in the 2020s. United Palace remains active as a worship space and event venue, combining religious use, heritage conservation, live performance, and commercial rentals.

United Palace began as Loew's 175th Street Theatre, a purpose-built movie palace in Washington Heights, Manhattan. In the 1920s, Loew's executive Len Cohen assembled the city block between Broadway, 175th Street, Wadsworth Avenue, and 176th Street. The location was selected because Washington Heights was expanding, public transportation was nearby, and the site was positioned near the future eastern approach to the George Washington Bridge. After the property assembly, the sites were transferred in February 1928 to Highbridge Realty Corporation, controlled by Loew's president Nicholas Schenck. Thomas W. Lamb prepared the design, filing plans in March 1928. The project was initially conceived as a smaller and less costly building, but the completed theater became a substantially more ambitious undertaking. Aronberg-Fried Company was hired as contractor in May 1929, and total construction costs reached approximately $3 million. Loew's considered several possible names, including a memorial name honoring Marcus Loew, before selecting Loew's 175th Street Theatre. The theater opened on February 22, 1930, coinciding with Washington's Birthday. A parade by Boy Scouts marked the opening, and the inaugural program combined the MGM film Their Own Desire with the musical revue Pearls. The theater was one of five Loew's Wonder Theatres in the New York area, alongside the Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, the Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, and the Valencia Theatre in Queens. Lamb and Harold Rambusch created an interior intended to make a visit to the cinema feel like an excursion into an extraordinary world. The building used a highly eclectic decorative vocabulary rather than adhering to one historical style. Hand-carved and filigreed surfaces, plaster ornament, chandeliers, indirect lighting, Asian-influenced motifs, and Byzantine and Romanesque auditorium elements were combined throughout the public spaces. The auditorium also contained a large Robert Morton organ known as a Wonder Morton, with a four-manual console and 23 ranks of pipes. The initial month was less profitable than Loew's expected, and live stage shows were discontinued in April 1930. Loew's later considered expanded stage, vaudeville, and other presentation formats as conditions changed, including after the George Washington Bridge opened in 1931 and increased access from northern New Jersey. For much of its commercial cinema life, however, the venue remained a large single-screen theater. Hollywood personalities appeared there to host films, and the theater formed part of Upper Manhattan's dense concentration of major neighborhood movie palaces. The building's commercial cinema era ended in 1969, when Reverend Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, known as Reverend Ike, acquired it. It became the headquarters of the United Church Science of Living Institute and was renamed United Palace. The conversion preserved the building as an active public institution while changing its primary function from film exhibition to worship. Interior spaces were adapted for church use; for example, the former men's smoking lounge became Reverend Ike's personal library, while another lounge was used for storage. The venue's cultural role broadened in the 1990s as Latin American music acts began performing there. In 2007, the church began renting the theater for outside events, adding concerts, graduations, meetings, recording sessions, and film shoots to its religious activities. The cultural program operates under the United Palace of Cultural Arts name, while the church is known as United Palace of Spiritual Arts. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building a city landmark in 2016. Incremental modernization in the 2010s and 2020s improved the screen and sound system without eliminating the historic character of the auditorium. The Wonder Morton organ, which had been sealed for roughly 25 years after World War II and rediscovered in 1970, was restored in the 2020s. United Palace therefore remains an unusual hybrid: a functioning church, a preserved movie palace, a concert and cultural venue, and a rentable location for civic and media production uses.

1. 2020Modernization and organ restoration

   Screen and sound improvements continued, and restoration of the historic pipe organ took place during the 2020s.

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2. 2016Landmark designation

   New York City designated the building an individual landmark.

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3. 2007External event rentals begin

   The United Church began making the venue available for outside events, broadening its role beyond worship.

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4. 1990Latin American music use expands

   Latin American music acts began using the former movie palace as a performance venue during the 1990s.

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5. 1970Historic pipe organ is rediscovered

   The Wonder Morton organ, sealed for decades after World War II, was found again inside the building.

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6. 1969Conversion into United Palace

   Reverend Ike acquired the theater, which became the headquarters of his United Church Science of Living Institute and received its current name.

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7. 1930Loew's 175th Street Theatre opens

   The theater opened on February 22 as one of Loew's five New York-area Wonder Theatres, presenting film and live entertainment.

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8. 1930Live stage shows are discontinued

   After a disappointing first month, the venue stopped presenting regular live stage shows in April and focused primarily on cinema.

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A preserved New York movie palace positioned as a hybrid house of worship, community institution, cultural center, concert hall, and event venue. Its differentiation comes from its monumental scale, eclectic architectural decoration, Washington Heights location, landmark status, and surviving historic theater organ.

• Historic auditoriumVenue1930

  The principal offering is a landmark auditorium originally designed as a single-screen movie palace. It retains ornate interiors, a large stage, orchestra and balcony seating, historic decorative elements, and capacity of approximately 3,400 seats in its modern configuration. It is used for concerts, ceremonies, screenings, performances, and rentals.

• United Palace of Spiritual ArtsWorship space1969

  The building functions as a house of worship associated with the United Church Science of Living Institute. Religious use began after Reverend Ike acquired the theater in 1969 and remains one of the venue's central functions.

• United Palace of Cultural ArtsCultural programming

  The cultural arts program presents or facilitates performances and community-oriented events, including concerts and other uses that connect the landmark theater with the Washington Heights neighborhood and New York's broader arts scene.

• Wonder Morton pipe organHistoric organ1930

  The venue's seven-story Robert Morton theater pipe organ is a surviving Wonder Theatre organ. Its four-manual console and 23 ranks of pipes form an important part of the building's historic technical equipment, and restoration work in the 2020s supported continued use.

• 2007Expansion into external event rentalsStrategy

  The church sought additional uses for the large historic building beyond regular worship and music programming.

  What changed. United Palace began renting the theater for concerts, graduations, film shoots, meetings, recording sessions, and related events.

  Aftermath. The venue broadened its operating role as a cultural, civic, and production location while retaining its religious identity.

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• 1969Conversion from commercial cinema to worship and community useStrategy

  The movie-palace operating model had ended, and Reverend Ike acquired the building for his religious organization.

  What changed. The theater was renamed United Palace and made the headquarters of the United Church Science of Living Institute.

  Aftermath. The building was preserved as an active church and later developed into a cultural and event venue as well as a worship space.

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• 2020United Palace continues technical and organ restoration work

  During the 2020s, the venue's movie screen and sound system were upgraded incrementally, while restoration work was carried out on its historic Wonder Morton pipe organ.

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• 2016New York City designates United Palace an individual landmark

  The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the former Loew's 175th Street Theatre as a city landmark, recognizing its architectural and historical importance.

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1. United Palace