Lease To Denver’s Paramount Theatre Sold

posted by Ross Melnick on July 17, 2002 at 7:22 am

DENVER, CO — The lease to the Paramount Theatre has been sold to Kroenke Sports in a transaction that includes not only the Art Deco movie palace, but also an adjacent building which houses the offices of the Historic Paramount Foundation and the House of Blues Concerts which books the 1970-seat theater.

According to reports in the Denver Business Journal and the Rocky Mountain News, Kroenke Sports, which also owns the Colorado Avalanche hockey and Denver Nuggets basketball franchises, as well as the the Pepsi Center arena, will now commence a “decade-long renovation effort.” Kroenke Sports was established by Wal-Mart’s Stan Kroenke who may seek to purchase the building outright in the future.

The restoration and renovation project will include repairs to the theater’s silk tapestries, the Paramount marquee, and the theater’s roof, as well as the installation of a new air conditioning system.

The Kroenke Sports lease will last until at least 2026 — four years prior to the Paramount’s 100-year anniversary.