Paramount Theatre
560 Bay Street,
Stapleton,
NY
10304
560 Bay Street,
Stapleton,
NY
10304
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 242 comments found
You’re welcome, Vito. It’s amazing that they managed to get as far as getting most of the marquee up and running and were just waiting for the green light to have it lit up in the evenings. I remember when Peter used to visit this site. I wish everybody all the best of luck, and am also curious as to what’s happening, even though I don’t reside in the area.
Thanks NPoi abd garth, I too was very excited about the project as well as Peter and his partner. They managed to get most of the marquee up and running again and were waiting on a permit to light it up in the evening. And yes, if you are wondering, Peter said “ I want to bring movies back to the Paramount” I know Peter used to visit this site so Peter if you are put there please let us know more of what happened.
As a fan of this theatre I would like to thank Vito for his info and the assistance he gave the new owners in their attempts to restore the theatre. The owners deserve thanks for what they tried very hard to accomplish.
Thanks for the heads up, Vito. It sounds as if getting the codes up to date was the toughest part of all.
I am sure there may have been other contibuting factors but I belive the code updates were a big part of it. I worked on the St George and it was just one thing after another getting the fire codes up to date. It is a tribute to that wonderful family who persurvered and got the job done.
Without knowing the facts, something sounds a little funny here. If the Paramount really is too expensive to continue renovations on, because getting it up to today’s codes is much too expensive, that’s really unfortunate, because the Paramount looks like such a beautiful theatre.
Sorry that the person who was one of the investors never took you up on your offer to speak to the family that had restored the St. George in order to get assistance.
When I last spoke to Peter Lisi, who was one of the investors, he told me of the unexpected problems with getting the building back up to code and the enormous expense involved perticularly with fire codes. I believe this to be the primary reason for the end of the restoration. I offered to speak with the family that had resored the St George for assistance but he never took me up on that.
That’s too bad about the Paramount becoming so expensive to renovate that the owners decided not to continue with the project, and to cut their losses instead. Another one bites the dust, I guess.
What is the latest status of this Art Deco gem? I hope to see this theater preserved. You may e-mail me at
Thank you,
Michael Perlman
Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance
I don’t know him personally , the Paramount issue came up on the Lane theatre page about the closing of Uncle Vinnies. I do pass by there and if I see the front gate open I will see what I can do.
Since you’re on friendly terms with Vito could you get in there with a camera and immortalize the place before, whatever is going to happen?
The status should be changed to simply “closed” , sadly. I am informed by Vito that despite extensive renovations , the theatre became a money pit and it was just not practical for the owners to go any further with the project. Cutting their losses may have been the best move , as it is doubtful the business would have thrived in this economy. Add in the lack of parking and the borderline at best neighborhood and the odds of sucsess are pretty slim. A good example is the failure of Uncle vinnies Comedy Club at the Lane theatre.
I bartended during the years it was a club – I never missed a nite, not even 7/11/81(or 82?) when the Ramones show was canceled by the blackout. Had the opportunity to see every inch of the place over the years including the bsmnt which looked like the Phantom of the Opera’s sewer dwelling complete with a raft for transport over the often flooded floor. Occasionally lucky enough to get crammed into the closet sized DJ booth with a few girls, bartended after parties in the projection room with the bands, aiming the carbon arcs into the seething crowd on the dance floor…quite a time. Paramount was still decent condition and an amazing place at the time.
That website has been up for over a year. I drive past quite often and nothing at all is going on there. Seems like they hit a roadblock once again.
Their website is at:
http://www.siparamount.com/
Fancy website, they’re already accepting bookings for parties and events and taking employment applications, although no events are listed yet on their calendar. Don’t knoew what their exact status at present. But the video linked above showed they were repairing and recreationg plaster ornamentations (Described as Egyptian in style), and also that the lobby apparently had been painted completely white at one time.
I have to assume it is dead in the water at this time.
A direct link to one of the Staten island Advance articles from January (includes a video of the interior renovations)
View link
Can anyone advise of any news? It still has not opened for business….
It appears that they have poured a floor from upstage to where ever that point meets the rake of the house floor. It covers over the pit and depending how far into the back of the house they go, they could raise the floor to a level quite close to the underside of the balcony. At some point sightlines become an issue. It is the same procedure that CBS used when it changed the New Yorker Theatre into Studio 52, now Studio 54. It created a smooth surface for the cameras, which were quite heavy in those days.
Good luck on the new venue.
Nice Vito. Wish I could see the place too. There aren’t too many of these old palaces left to enjoy.
I received a phone call from Peter Lisi who is one of the owners of the paramount. We had a wonderful 45 minute conversation about the theatre and his plans for operation of the space. I was so impressed by Peters enthusiasm and obvious love for the theatre I wanted to share that all of you Paramount theatre supporters here at CT.
I wish you could have heard the excitement in his voice when he told me the marquee has been restored and will soon light up Bay Street. He is currently waiting on the permit to turn it on. Peter did an interview with NY one and here will be a follow up soon; he has invited me to join in on the next segment.
Peter still has his work cut out for him with safety issues and getting all the legalities in place to open the theatre. I have offered him my help in any way I can.
Peter has invited me to tour the space which I will do soon.
Who are you talking to, Simon Overton? Just curious.
Sorry, but also try your local newspaper or even a radio station to actually broadcast your plea for help.
For ORIGINAL PHOTOS & HISTORY of your theater, go to your local library and/or city hall and request they look through their archives.
Also meet with long-time senior residents who may have scrap books and personal photo albums. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT!!!
I don’t entirely agree with you here, socal09. I think that there’ll always be people (myself included), who’ll want to continue going to a real movie theatre and watching movies as they’re really meant to be viewed; on a great big wide movietheatre screen, with the lights down low. Most of the single-screen movie theatres are gone, that’s true, but there are still afew left. Single-screen theatres or no single screened theatres, there’ll always be loyal theatre patrons, especially to what few independent, nonprofit movie theatres there are left here in the United States.
I also might add that, no matter how much anybody says how amazing 3DKTV on home theatres systems is amazingly like seeing movies in a real movie theatre, it just isn’t so. Absolutely nothing, imho, beats seeing movies on a great big, wide screen, in a true-blue movie theatre, and sharing the experience with other people, whether one knows them or not.