Three honored with key to borough
SOUDERTON » Three more people have been awarded the Key to the Borough designation initiated by Mayor Dan Yocum in May.
The three are Charlie Crown and Kyle Hoff, owners of Broad Theater, and Dave Sowhangar, owner of Broad Street Italian Cuisine & Pizzeria, which is next door to and connected to the theater. The two businesses have similar marquee signs.
Yocum made the presentation at the Aug. 1 Souderton Borough Council meeting, which was attended by Crown and Hoff. Sowhangar was also scheduled to be there, but was sick that night, Yocum said.
The theater opened on July 21, 1922.
“Now, almost exactly 100 years later, we’re honoring three people that are helping give the Broad Theater and its block another 100 years of success in Souderton,” Yocum said.
“Many of us have fond memories of the Broad Theater, but by the time I got around to it and spent my childhood there, most of those memories are of crumbling infrastructure and sticky floors,” he said.
After the theater closed and sat vacant for more than a decade, Crown and Hoff, who reopened the theater in 2020, “transformed the Broad Theater back into the cultural epicenter that it once was,” Yocum said.
The neighboring restaurant has fine dining, a diverse menu and welcoming environment, he said.
“Broad Street Italian Restaurant has become the premier spot for lunch, dinner, drinks and events in Souderton,” Yocum said.
“These people with separate businesses, separate interests and different ideas have come together for the betterment of Souderton and I think that exemplifies why our town is seeing such success right now,” he said. “We have lots of different interests that are finally coming together around one common goal — to make Souderton thrive.”
When he’s at the theater and restaurant, he sees not only people from Souderton, but also from other towns in the area, Yocum said, “which means that thanks to the efforts of Charlie and Kyle and Dave, people are coming to Souderton for their entertainment needs and to spend their money, and that is pretty damn cool.”
“We want to see Souderton continue to thrive and grow and more businesses come to town,” Crown said.
In other matters at the meeting:
• The board approved a resolution allowing it to have up to two junior councillors. Junior councillors are high school juniors or seniors who are part of the
council. The junior councillors can take part in council discussions, but do not have a vote on council decisions.
The number of junior councillors on the board had previously been limited to one.
With the change, the board approved appointing Estrela Sadiboko and Elijah Steglik as junior councillors for the term running Sept. 1, 2022 through August 31, 2023. The two will be sworn in and take their seats at Souderton Borough Council’s September 12 meeting.
• John U. Young was reappointed to another five year term on the Souderton Industrial Development Authority, running through Aug. 4, 2027.