JTFox: Did the Paramount/Boston have this art deco ceiling that appears on the Paramount/Aurora link? And thanks for the Marquee correction year as I was looking under 2006 and couldn’t fine the issue that features a photo of the Paramount/Boston auditorium.
Ron: Well, all I can say is that this restoration process was certainly different. Was glad to read that it once had a Wurlitzer organ and that you were actually “inside the theatre in 1983” though “it was a total mess after being closed for several years”. If “the City was primarily interested only in the preservation of the facade, marquee and vertical”, then the City accomplished their goal…I guess! But I still wonder if there are visitors to the City of Boston who come to the theatre district and see that beautiful marquee thinking they can enter a restored theatre, too!?!
And what really fascinates me in some of the photos is the Paramount logo on the concrete facade as I’ve never seen that before on or in a theatre with the Paramount connection!?!
After searching the many posts there seems to be many photo links that can’t be accessed and it would be wonderful to see these “behind the facade” photos……… at different stages of “restoration”. I just can’t believe that a facade would be restored to such extent and let the back of the theatre go! What exactly are Emerson College’s plans for this part of the theatre that is gone!?!
How did Emerson College get involved with this Paramount project? And more importantly, how and why was the facade saved and the back destroyed? I would have thought the whole thing would have come down in that narrow space 2 doors down from the Opera House!?! Or the entire theatre would have been restored!?!
The June 3 2004 post shows how the facade looked before restoration, but are there any photos of earlier “behind the facade” photos on this link? If not, perhaps someone could provide them?
This is all very interesting to read in regards to what is going on behind that restored marquee facade. I don’t recall a theatre having a restored facade and the rest gone to “rack and ruin”!
“I had some hope after those relatively recent interior photos were posted a while back showing that some of the original interior had survived.” What photos are these? Are they some that were posted before the post recent one? Can those be found on this link in an earlier dated post(s)?
Does this Paramount marquee light up at night? And why is the facade finished and not the back of the building or behind the facade. It'a like a movie set with all fake fronts!
Harvey: And now I am trying to locate and contact the Beth Dunlop who wrote the Paramount 1982 article. If I reach her, I will let you know via email though only a My Space came up when clicking on your name and not a regular email address.
“It has been the subject of protracted negotiations between the owner, First Southern Holdings, and the Palm Beach Town Council, but that didn’t save the movietheater as a theater.”
I can’t believe that the Palm Beach Town Council with all of their “island” wisdom couldn’t figure out a way to save their Joseph Urban designed theatre for future generations and future residents. At least the Miami Herald knew the importance of this theatre to take the time to write the 1982 article. In fact, I lived in the West Palm Beach area in 1982 and don’t recall the article though I wasn’t into theatres back then.
Harvey: Very insightful article from 1982 yet the first paragraph really jumped out at me as the theatre did sit in Palm Beach where many wealthy residents could have figured “out a good way to save it”. A theatre with such “rich” illustrious history that became doomed and is now gone forever on Palm Beach!
Consider the plight of the Paramount: Nobody really wants to lose it, but nobody can figure out a good way to save it, either. It is a movietheater with no movies , a historic work of architecture with too few champions, an illustrious piece of Palm Beach’s history that may be doomed.
The Jordan is featured with several b/w photos on Cinema Tour. The PA community of Greenville has forever lost their “gem”. And this summer I plan to pay Greenville a visit to see just where this theatre once proudly stood.
“The design was very similar to Rapp & Rapp’s Paramount in Aurora, Illinois, which opened the previous year. Both had interiors that were a mix of Art Deco and French Renaissance.”
Ron: Thanks so very much as this trip to Boston will be a trip down memory lane for me. I attended and graduated from the former Chamberlayne Junior College in 1966 on Commonwealth Avenue which are now very expensive brownstones according to the internet.
http://www.paramountarts.com/aboutphotos.php
Please don’t tell me that these photos on the above link are similar to how the auditorium looked in the Paramount/Boston!?!
JTFox: Did the Paramount/Boston have this art deco ceiling that appears on the Paramount/Aurora link? And thanks for the Marquee correction year as I was looking under 2006 and couldn’t fine the issue that features a photo of the Paramount/Boston auditorium.
View link
Sill hope to see a photo(s) here soon!
JTFox: Thanks as I shall look at the comparative auditoriums and order the THS issue.
Just clicked on the Cutler Majestic Theatre link that is connected with Emerson College…very nice.
…restored to its original “look”!
Ron: Well, all I can say is that this restoration process was certainly different. Was glad to read that it once had a Wurlitzer organ and that you were actually “inside the theatre in 1983” though “it was a total mess after being closed for several years”. If “the City was primarily interested only in the preservation of the facade, marquee and vertical”, then the City accomplished their goal…I guess! But I still wonder if there are visitors to the City of Boston who come to the theatre district and see that beautiful marquee thinking they can enter a restored theatre, too!?!
And what really fascinates me in some of the photos is the Paramount logo on the concrete facade as I’ve never seen that before on or in a theatre with the Paramount connection!?!
Ron: Your March 27, 2008 photos are fascinating to view, but I thought I was perhaps looking at the “big dig” in some of them!?!
After searching the many posts there seems to be many photo links that can’t be accessed and it would be wonderful to see these “behind the facade” photos……… at different stages of “restoration”. I just can’t believe that a facade would be restored to such extent and let the back of the theatre go! What exactly are Emerson College’s plans for this part of the theatre that is gone!?!
How did Emerson College get involved with this Paramount project? And more importantly, how and why was the facade saved and the back destroyed? I would have thought the whole thing would have come down in that narrow space 2 doors down from the Opera House!?! Or the entire theatre would have been restored!?!
The June 3 2004 post shows how the facade looked before restoration, but are there any photos of earlier “behind the facade” photos on this link? If not, perhaps someone could provide them?
This is all very interesting to read in regards to what is going on behind that restored marquee facade. I don’t recall a theatre having a restored facade and the rest gone to “rack and ruin”!
“I had some hope after those relatively recent interior photos were posted a while back showing that some of the original interior had survived.” What photos are these? Are they some that were posted before the post recent one? Can those be found on this link in an earlier dated post(s)?
Does this Paramount marquee light up at night? And why is the facade finished and not the back of the building or behind the facade. It'a like a movie set with all fake fronts!
I’ve sent a fax to “a Beth Dunlop” in Miami, but no word as yet. The phone number went to a fax ring so I had to send word to her via the fax machine.
Harvey: And now I am trying to locate and contact the Beth Dunlop who wrote the Paramount 1982 article. If I reach her, I will let you know via email though only a My Space came up when clicking on your name and not a regular email address.
“It has been the subject of protracted negotiations between the owner, First Southern Holdings, and the Palm Beach Town Council, but that didn’t save the movietheater as a theater.”
I can’t believe that the Palm Beach Town Council with all of their “island” wisdom couldn’t figure out a way to save their Joseph Urban designed theatre for future generations and future residents. At least the Miami Herald knew the importance of this theatre to take the time to write the 1982 article. In fact, I lived in the West Palm Beach area in 1982 and don’t recall the article though I wasn’t into theatres back then.
Harvey: Very insightful article from 1982 yet the first paragraph really jumped out at me as the theatre did sit in Palm Beach where many wealthy residents could have figured “out a good way to save it”. A theatre with such “rich” illustrious history that became doomed and is now gone forever on Palm Beach!
Consider the plight of the Paramount: Nobody really wants to lose it, but nobody can figure out a good way to save it, either. It is a movietheater with no movies , a historic work of architecture with too few champions, an illustrious piece of Palm Beach’s history that may be doomed.
The Jordan is featured with several b/w photos on Cinema Tour. The PA community of Greenville has forever lost their “gem”. And this summer I plan to pay Greenville a visit to see just where this theatre once proudly stood.
The above link should be this one (Paramount/Aurora Illinois):
/theaters/445/
“The design was very similar to Rapp & Rapp’s Paramount in Aurora, Illinois, which opened the previous year. Both had interiors that were a mix of Art Deco and French Renaissance.”
/theaters/24/
When I clicked on the architect’s name only this theatre was listed.
hvsteve1: Well, maybe our paths crossed back then in 1966 and now our paths have crossed again via CT. Small world…sometimes.
Ron: Thanks so very much as this trip to Boston will be a trip down memory lane for me. I attended and graduated from the former Chamberlayne Junior College in 1966 on Commonwealth Avenue which are now very expensive brownstones according to the internet.
Is there anything to see if one were to stop by this theatre site? I hope to be in Boston this May and will be visiting the Wang Theatre.