To make a correction, the Paramount Theater in Santurce was originally built in 1922 and was first known as Teatro Olimpo. It had an orchestra area and three balconies and seated over a 1,000 spectators. In the early thirties it was remodeled into a movie theater. It stage could house musical and variety shows. It was here, on April 3, 1935 that Carlos Gardel, the famous Argentinian tango singer made his debut on the island. Shortly thereafter he died in an airplane crash in Colombia. The Paramount stage also served as the venue for several famous Mexican and Latin American artists who visited the island, and served as a radio theater in the heyday of Puerto Rican Radio broadcasts. It has a classic Greek revival facade that is still in excellent condition. In the late nineteen forties or early fifties an office building was built partly over the stage house, which is still standing today as well and which greatly reduced the size of the stage. An old picture of the theater is included on page 185 of the book EVER NEW SAN JUAN: ARCHITECTURE AND MODERNIZATION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (Enrique Vivoni Farage, Ed.).
The Paramount Theater has been expropriated by the Puerto Rico Land Administration for rehabilitation as a legitimate theater. Architects and theater consultants have been hired to begin design of the rehabilitation process. This project is being undertaken as part of the Santurce Renovation efforts that the Administration of Gov. Sila Calderon has begun in the area and which is being coordinated by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Housing Department. The Santurce renovation program includes several new housing construction projects, the sprucing up of several Ponce de León Avenue intersections, the construction of the new Government Development Bank Headquarters in front of the Sagrado Corazón Urban Train Station, new facilities at the Electric Power Authority Headquarters, the construction of a new Symphony Hall at the Performing Arts Center to serve as home to the Puerto Rico Symphony (currently in an advanced design stage) as well as the renovation of several theaters. The theaters are: the Matienzo and Music Hall Theaters, now in the final staqes of construction, the Paramount Theater, and the rehabilitation of the old Ambasssador Theater, now owned by the Electric Power Authority, by a local production company which has rented it from the Electric Power Authority. The Puerto Rico Land Administration is a public corporation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico dedicated mostly to acquiring land and buildings for government use and for redevelopment. Among it projects one can name the following: the New Center of San Juan Development Project in Hato Rey, the Old San Juan Waterfront Redevelopment Project, the restoration of the old YMCA building in Old San Juan to serve as the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee Headquarters, the Casino de Ponce Restoration Project. The agency owns land and well-known buildings such as the Casa Aboy in Santurce, the Pedro de Castro House in Guaynabo, the Asilo de Beneficencia Building in Old San Juan (currently housing the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture offices in Ballajá).
To make a correction, the Paramount Theater in Santurce was originally built in 1922 and was first known as Teatro Olimpo. It had an orchestra area and three balconies and seated over a 1,000 spectators. In the early thirties it was remodeled into a movie theater. It stage could house musical and variety shows. It was here, on April 3, 1935 that Carlos Gardel, the famous Argentinian tango singer made his debut on the island. Shortly thereafter he died in an airplane crash in Colombia. The Paramount stage also served as the venue for several famous Mexican and Latin American artists who visited the island, and served as a radio theater in the heyday of Puerto Rican Radio broadcasts. It has a classic Greek revival facade that is still in excellent condition. In the late nineteen forties or early fifties an office building was built partly over the stage house, which is still standing today as well and which greatly reduced the size of the stage. An old picture of the theater is included on page 185 of the book EVER NEW SAN JUAN: ARCHITECTURE AND MODERNIZATION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (Enrique Vivoni Farage, Ed.).
The Paramount Theater has been expropriated by the Puerto Rico Land Administration for rehabilitation as a legitimate theater. Architects and theater consultants have been hired to begin design of the rehabilitation process. This project is being undertaken as part of the Santurce Renovation efforts that the Administration of Gov. Sila Calderon has begun in the area and which is being coordinated by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Housing Department. The Santurce renovation program includes several new housing construction projects, the sprucing up of several Ponce de León Avenue intersections, the construction of the new Government Development Bank Headquarters in front of the Sagrado Corazón Urban Train Station, new facilities at the Electric Power Authority Headquarters, the construction of a new Symphony Hall at the Performing Arts Center to serve as home to the Puerto Rico Symphony (currently in an advanced design stage) as well as the renovation of several theaters. The theaters are: the Matienzo and Music Hall Theaters, now in the final staqes of construction, the Paramount Theater, and the rehabilitation of the old Ambasssador Theater, now owned by the Electric Power Authority, by a local production company which has rented it from the Electric Power Authority. The Puerto Rico Land Administration is a public corporation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico dedicated mostly to acquiring land and buildings for government use and for redevelopment. Among it projects one can name the following: the New Center of San Juan Development Project in Hato Rey, the Old San Juan Waterfront Redevelopment Project, the restoration of the old YMCA building in Old San Juan to serve as the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee Headquarters, the Casino de Ponce Restoration Project. The agency owns land and well-known buildings such as the Casa Aboy in Santurce, the Pedro de Castro House in Guaynabo, the Asilo de Beneficencia Building in Old San Juan (currently housing the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture offices in Ballajá).