On September 28th, Spirit News was invited to Revolutions bowling alley for their VIP party and ribbon cutting ceremony. Revolutions is the latest addition to the Fillmore Philadelphia complex on Canal Street.

  Revolutions will offer 26 lanes of high-tech Brunswick bowling. Players will be able to customize scoreboards with selfies and emojis and lane bumpers will automatically rise into place when a beginner’s turn come up. Patrons can even order food directly from an app on their phone.

  The 52,000-square-foot “multi-venue entertainment site” also introduces the 21-and-over “flair bar” concept to Philly, as well as a beer garden-style bar/restaurant upstairs, which features communal tables, 40 lines of craft beer on tap and a gourmet burgers menu.

  Both floors were packed with invited guests including members of the 26th Police District, 1st District Councilman Mark Squilla and the media. We spoke to Bruce Frank, president of Frank Entertainment, about Revolutions and his company.

  Frank Entertainment was founded in 1906 by Bruce’s grandfather and has been a pioneer in the entertainment business in Philadelphia ever since.

  “My grandfather built the first talking theater in Philadelphia on Market Street back in the 1920s,” Frank said. “Our history here is long. It’s a wonderful, colorful history in a wonderful colorful town.”

  According to Frank, he decided to broaden the company’s reach by offering other entertainment venues besides cinemas when he became president of the company in 1980. “We wanted to be a one stop shop for entertainment,” Frank said. “Revolutions is an alternative solution when there’s not a movie you want to see.”

  Frank sees Revolutions as a great asset to the Fishtown community. “Any time you create jobs, you benefit  community. Any time you develop a project and pay taxes, you benefit a community,” Frank said. “Any time you provide entertainment for families, you benefit the community.”

  Councilman Squilla also sees Revolutions as beneficial to Fishtown. “This was an area that was desolate. So when you have an area with no activity whatsoever the likelihood of crime is more likely,” Squilla said. “This also gives people more of a reason to want to live in and around the community.”

  “When this actual complex was approved, we saw this as an opportunity to grow the amenities for the Fishtown neighborhood,” Squilla said. “So now the Fishtown neighborhood will have a bowling alley, a live music venue, they’ll have a sportsbar, a comedy club… Now they have things that they can walk to. They have these amenities that we think make the neighborhood better.”

  Councilman Squilla admits that neighbors may have concerns, but he believes open lines of communication can be mutually beneficial. “Sometimes when you have some things opening that are a little different, maybe there’s concerns with parking or things like that,” Squilla said. “We’re working with the developer and the FNA to make sure that if there are concerns, we can mitigate concerns.”

  Both men agree that this entertainment complex is going to make Fishtown a local destination point. “This is going to be the entertainment mecca of Philadelphia,” Frank said.

  “It just gives the people in the community a place to go that’s close by, and also gives back to the community. It’s a win win for everybody,” Squilla said.

  He added: “There’s always a fine line between having a lot of amenities, and having some concerns that those amenities bring. As long as we constantly work with the community groups and the venues to make sure we have open lines of communications and dialogue, we’re able to work through those concerns and make it better for the business and the community.” •

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