Paramount Theater
195 Market Street,
Newark,
NJ
07102
195 Market Street,
Newark,
NJ
07102
8 people
favorited this theater
Opened on October 11, 1886 as H.C. Miner’s Newark Theater. It was originally a vaudeville house managed by Hyde & Behman Amusement Co., a Brooklyn based theater management company. After H.C. Miner’s death in 1900, his surviving relatives retained ownership of the theater for several years until its sale in 1916 to Edward Speigel, the owner of the nearby Strand Theater. Speigel also purchased the building next to the theater with intent to use the space to expand the theater. To accomplish this he hired famed theater architect Thomas W. Lamb to do the alterations. In 1917, Thomas Lamb remodeled the theatre in an Adam style.
The former Paramount Theater still boasts the vertical ‘Paramount’ sign, as well as the ‘Newark’ marquee. The Paramount Theater was closed on April 1, 1986.
Although a retail store operated out of the former lobby until around April 2011, a store employee confirmed that behind the drop ceilings and walls remains much of the old theater, complete with stage area and balcony seating intact.
Contributed by
Marty Nartinez
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 78 comments)
That article is from April 2009 and was previously linked in a comment back around that time. Sobering to note the lack of movement on any redevelopment in the last three years! In fact, I think that even the retailers who had occupied the former lobby space on short term leases are now shuttered. I wonder if the property is still in the hands of the same owner!
I was working at the Prudential Center arena for the NBA draft about 2 weeks ago and passed both the Paramount and Adams Theatres in Newark. (Did not have time to get to the Proctors) The Paramount is indeed all boarded up. There is a dollar type of store in what looks to be the lobby of the Adams. If I am in town again (maybe July 20 – 21 for Jennifer Lopez concert) I will try to find out more on both venues.
This 1915 trade article describes an earlier Paramount Theatre in Newark on Broad Street, but gives no specific building number. Does anyone know what became of it? archive
Was over in Newark yesterday, grabbed a few shots of the Paramount.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aonghais/7844531580/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/aonghais/7844532228/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/aonghais/7844532774/
Cheers!
Tom De Poto writes in the The Star-Ledger “Newark OKs early plan to revitalize the Four Corners downtown district” on December 19, 2012 that a rehab plan is in the early stages of development as part of the Four Corners Millennium Plan in which the Paramount is “slated to have 2 floors of retail and the the remaining floors will house 220 housing units”, contingent on landmark preservation approvals and receipt of New Jersey Urban Transit Hub tax credit; funding may come in part from Goldman Sachs. See mention: http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/newark_oks_early_plan_to_revit.html#incart_river_default
It never ceases to amaze me when I see how these theaters get abandoned and trashed. So many people just don’t seem to care. I can see why comedians use New Jersey as a punch line so often. What a shame, this building going to waste.
Why does it amaze you or anyone?
To the developers and those whom own the buildings it’s just a piece of real estate.
and c'mon it’s downtown Newark NJ. People need police escorts to get from the train and or parking lots to the Prudential Center.
Do you really think that a single screen theatre in Newark NJ would be a profitable venue?
It’s utter nonsense that you need a “police escort” to get from the train station to Prudential Center. That said, HDTV267 is right about most old theaters just being a piece of real estate to their owners. That’s a fact. He is also correct that the Paramount is in a terrible location and very far gone. I certainly wouldn’t invest money in this location when there are many other theaters in much better locations that would have a better shot a sustaining themselves after restoration. Mind you, I don’t have the money to restore any theater, but if I did, it wouldn’t be for this one. :–)
I would just like to add to what LuisV said. I work as a stagehand at the prudential center. Most times I get parking in the deck next door. But there are times, as was the case a week ago after the Stones concert, that I had to park blocks away on the street. The first time a year or so ago I was nervous about doing this, but now, even at 4 am I felt safe and ok. As far as the Paramount, as well as the Adams and the Proctors, it is truely a shame they are just rotting away. Its too bad years ago when they were building the NJPac that someone didnt just think about saving these structures, which still have more beauty than anything new built today.
In September, 1924, Adams' Newark Theatre started a new deal with Pantages Vaudeville to supply its stage presentations. Although Pantages Vaudeville had been well-known in the western US and Canada for nearly 25 years, this was reportedly its eastern debut. To signify the deal, a Pantages vertical sign was installed above the Newark’s marquee. Please see the Photos Section for more about this.