Paramount Theatre

This theatre has been demolished for about 15 years. The Palace Theatre about 6 blocks down is the gospel church. The Paramount had been donated in the 80's to the city to be a performing arts center, but it didn't make the city's downtown restoration plans and was razed. It was built on the site of the old Academy of Music.

Dan P - Frederick, MD born in Newport News Va

Sadly, about 1/1000th of the Paramount still remains...there's a sad little course of terra cotta still stuck to the building next door (which, years ago, was "Paramount Florist") to the north. A sad end for one of Virginia's great theatres.

The Barton organ still exists, though. When the Paramount closed it was moved to the Virginia Theatre in Alexandria, and when that closed in the early '80s it was moved to the Granada in Kansas City, Kansas. It was the last theatre organ that the Barton company built.

Downtown Newport News is a monument to the utter idiocy of "urban renewal"What a wasteland.There are 3 old theaters in NN being used as churches.One S.of the freeway,2 N.

The address for the Paramount Theater was:
3300 Washington Ave
Newport News, VA 23607

Some old photos of the Paramount Theater can be seen here:
http://fsweb.wm.edu/AMST370/instudy/ekrobi/paramount.html

Thanks lostmemory for the opportunity to look at those old pictures of the Paramount, but the interior shot is incorrect. The Paramount never had atrue balcony. It was a true stadium seat theatre much like all of the new megapalexes of today. It had a huge main level and two stadium levels.

When I was 17 and an usher at the Newmarket Rockingchair Theatre(another awesome theatre) I was told to clean out some old boxes that the fire marshall deemed a fire hazard. What I found in those boxes were old pictures from the collection of R.D. Stallings, Manager at the Paramount, then Newmarket Theatres. I found old pictures, articles, blueprints, and an old seating chart(1931) of the Paramount that Stallings had kept and never retrieved when he retired. I later managed several theatres along the east coast, including the Rockingchair, and posted these photos in my office. Now all of this collection has been donated to the City of Newport News Historical Society. I hope it is not just lying in a box.

About two years before the Paramount was razed, I had a chance to enter the building and retrieve the old ticket box. Like a dummy I am I left it at the Rockingchair after I was transferred out of state and I never saw it again(probably got thrown out)

I don't know if that interior shot is the old Academy of music, but it's not the Paramount. Too bad there were no shots of the interior of the Palace.

righter40....I'm glad that you enjoyed the photos. I don't think the Palace theater is listed on here yet. I'll double check and if it isn't, I will add it when I get to chance to do so.

Here is an old pic
http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/paramount/paramount-55.jpg
Sadly the location today
http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/paramount/11-14-03-paramount-theater.jpg

Here is a photo of a pass for the Paramount Theater.

lost memory, where did you get that picture of the pass? I may have donated a pass like that to the Newport News Historical Society

righter40

The photo of the theater pass came from a Newport News High School Class of 1965 website. This is the main page for that site. The photo is on that website somewhere and you will have to search for it.

Mr.Memory,you never fail to amaze.How the heck would you ever stumble across a 1965 year book page?Sometimes you're scary.Not retired from the NSA?I guess you'd have to kill me if you told me.

Well, back on my home planet of Kodak I am known as a seeker of lost photographs. Seriously, sometimes I amaze myself. If I search for photos of a Strand theater, I wind up finding photos of a State theater. When I search for a Heights theater, I find a High School Alumni site. Either I can't spell very good or my search engine is out of this world. :)

Hello everyone. Can anyone please help me find An Elvis Presley concert poster from his show at the Paramount Theatre? The date was 2/13/1956. I am willing to pay top dollar. Or if you guys could help me contact someone who might know where I could find one of these? An original? My contact info is: Hellaheather@aol.com

Its a shame that the paramount is no more. My dad used to see elvis movies there all the time. Thanks for your time.

-Heather

This was the Paramount in 1985.