Paramount Theatre
215 Pittsburgh Street,
Connellsville,
PA
15425
215 Pittsburgh Street,
Connellsville,
PA
15425
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Additional Info
Architects: R.L. Hannam
Previous Names: Fayette Theatre
Nearby Theaters
No theaters found within 30 miles
The Paramount Theatre was opened on July 18, 1916 with Billie Burke in “Gloria’s Romance” & Marie Doro in “The Heart of Nora Flynn”. It was taken over by the Soisson Theatre Co. on July 1, 1949, and was renamed Fayette Theatre. It had a grand re-opening on July 19, 1949. It was closed in 1952. It appears that the theatre was also used for live entertainment. On January 30, 1953 it reverted back to its Paramount Theatre name, but closed on August 16, 1954 with Philip Carey in “Massacre Canyon” & Marlon Brando in The Wild One". It was sold to a church in 1955.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Before the 1949 remodeling, the Fayette had been called the Paramount. The new owner, Edwin P. Brown, was also the operator of the Soisson Theatre. This information is from an item in the August 13, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
This theater returned to its original name of Paramount in 1953, according to the February 7 issue of Boxoffice that year. The house had been closed for six months. The September 4, 1954, issue of Boxoffice reported that the Paramount at Connellsville had been closed.
I haven’t found the Paramount mentioned in any later issues of Boxoffice. A 1956 Boxoffice item said that the only theaters still operating in Connellsville were the Soisson and the Orpheum, so the 1954 closure of the Paramount had probably been permanent.
The Paramount Theatre launched in downtown Connellsville on July 18, 1916 with “Gloria’s Romance” and “The Heart of Nora Flynn.” R.L. Hannam was the architect. The theatre adjoined the Globe Theatre which had the Paramount film contract and ceased operations when the Paramount opened. The theatre switched to Vitaphone for talkies in 1929 which included a major interior overhaul.
On July 1, 1949, the Soisson Theatre Co. took on the Paramount and decided to change its name and held a re-naming contest. The winner was the Fayette Theatre upon relaunch on July 19, 1949 opening with “Song of Idaho” and “Highway 13.”. The theatre closed in 1952. It relaunched on January 30, 1953 as the Paramount with “My Outlaw Bride” and “It’s in the Bag.”
The Paramount closed on August 16, 1954 with “Massacre Canyon” and The Wild One.“ It was apparently padlocked. The theatre sold at a sheriff’s sale auction on January 10, 1955 for a scant $144.70. On June 29, 1956, the theatre was home to the Connellsville Revival Center which had the marquee removed in 1973.
630 is well out of downtown. There are three blocks of houses before you get to the 600 block. I wonder if the address is correct.
If it did indeed adjoin the Globe, then the address was either 213-215 (which would have been new construction replacing a house), or 207, which would have been a conversion of a furniture store. 215 has been again replaced by an ugly little office building, while 207 still exists under a hideous slipcover.
Here is an item about the Paramount Theatre from the June 24, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World:
The fact that the article says the building had cost $30,000 to erect suggests that it was not a remodeling of the furniture store at 207 Pittsburgh Street, but a replacement for the house at 215 Pittsburgh.Seating capacity would really only have worked for a new building.