Paramount Theatre
30 Center Street,
Rutland,
VT
05701
30 Center Street,
Rutland,
VT
05701
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 10 comments
Reopened as Paramount on June 29th, 1931 and reopened as “The Movies” on August 9th, 1972 and closed in 1981. Grand opening ads posted.
Opened as the Playhouse on January 15th, 1915. Grand opening ad posted.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Paramount; it’s Card # 588. Address is 30 Center St. There is an exterior photo taken May 1941.The condition is Good. The house was over 15 years old and was showing MGM films. Competing theaters were the Grand and the Strand; the latter was closed at the time. (no mention of the Colonial). Seats: Orchestra, 488; Balcony, 415; Boxes, 42; Total-945. The 1940 population of Rutland was 17,000.
From the 1940s a photo postcard view of downtown Rutland along with the Paramount Theatre on Center Street.
I attended a show at the Paramount last year. It is absolutely beautiful!
What goes around comes around,Movies again at the PARAMOUNT.
Saw this theatre last week on a cycling trip. Great downtown and the theatre fits right in with all the filled up storefronts. The Indigo Girls were playing the night I was leaving.
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, there is a long list of theatre circuits in the US and Canada. The Paramount in Rutland is listed under the M&P Circuit (Mullin & Pananski) of Boston, which was affiliated with Paramount. According to the list, M&P controlled 5 theatres in Vermont, the Paramount, Grand and Strand in Rutland, and the Paramount and Magnet in Barre.
In its final years as a movie house, this theatre was simply called “The Movies”. The Grand Theatre, located a block away, finished its days as a moviehouse known as “Movieland”. Both were operated by Cinema North, which currently has the Plaza 9 in Rutland and the Westway 4 in West Rutland.
A beautiful theatre which after many years I finally got see inside.
I first discovered the Rutland in 1989. It was closed and so was the other theatre (see Strand, Rutland Vt., which I’ll submit after completing this comment) around the corner. The downtown area of Rutland at this time was bleak but it looked like things were beginning to happen. A walkway behind the theatre had been gussied up with interlock and old style street lights installed. The day I was there no one was around except two “kids” trying out their skateboards on the new interlock. The rebirth of the Paramount and the opening of much previously empty retail space has brought life back to downtown Rutland. Unfortunately, a tight restoration budget forced the Paramount to skimp on air conditioning. A Rutland native told me the theatre has no air conditioning and he attends no summertime functions. Well, I’m sure eventually the air will be up and blowing.