Brooklyn Paramount Theatre
385 Flatbush Avenue Extension,
Brooklyn,
NY
11201
385 Flatbush Avenue Extension,
Brooklyn,
NY
11201
38 people
favorited this theater
Built in 1928, by the studio that bore its name, the Brooklyn Paramount was a magnificent 4,124 seat movie palace that closed in 1962, one year after the horrific razing of the Roxy Theatre in Manhattan.
Now serving as a gymnasium for Long Island University, the transformation is one of the strangest in movie theater history. Although the old Paramount has lost some of its original look, the building still contains the original Wurlitzer organ.
The Wurlitzer, in fact, is still maintained and used for the college’s basketball games. Many argue that the gymnasium’s organ is the finest in the country, if not the world.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 326 comments)
Brooklyn Paramount fans, now is your chance!!! There will be “A one credit course/ conference at the old Brooklyn Paramount on Friday, April 15, 2011. This will be free and open to the public. From 9 am to 5 pm. Lunch will be provided only for those paying for the credit course. The schedule as it stands now will be panels in the morning session from Joe Baskin (Rebeilious Laughter) Mary Favia (Palace Theatre Veteran) Joe Franklin (Memory Lane) David Harmon (Harmony Productions) Dr. Sue Horowitz (Women in Vaudeville) Ron Hurchinson (The Vitaphone Project) Craig Morrison (Brooklyn Theatre History) Richie "O” (Producer, “The Joe Franklin Show”) Don K. Reed (The Doo-Wop Shop -WCBS FM) Ron Schweiger (Brooklyn Borough Historian) Norman Steinberg (Blazing Saddles) Travis Stewart (Vaudeville Historian) Peter Tymus (Architecture & Theatre Engineering). Performers will include: A short concert showing off the Mighty Wurlitzer. Sammy Sax and the MD’s will perform songs from the old Alan Freed shows, Travis Stewart will bring you back to the Vaudeville days, The Giacomo Gates Quintet (feturing Sam Newsone) Greg Lewis, Carlo de Rosa & suprise guests will also perform.
Will there be any discussion about the future of the Brooklyn Paramount (if it has one)? Will it be restored to use as a theatre or performing arts center, or converted to offices or classrooms?
If it stays the way it is, we will be very lucky. If a school did not take it over, it would have went the way of the Fox a long time ago.
I don’t know if that discussion will take place. As far as I know there is no talk of restoring it back to a theatre. All I can tell you is to come. All the powers that be will be there so you can ask them. I plan on being there for the whole thing. I think it is going to be very interesting and informative. Not to mention they now have a small museum for the Brooklyn Paramount. Photos, Uniforms, etc.
Thank you so much Kong1911 for the info. As I have stated in prior posts, I believe there is a bright future for the Brooklyn Paramount. Downtown Brooklyn continues to thrive and improve and BAM is also expanding. With Atlantic Yards will come even more development. The Brooklyn Paramount is in pretty good shape overall. The organ is intact and working! And there would be a big to do if LIU tried to gut the theater. They have already moved the gym to a new facility several years ago but it doesn’t appear like they have done anything else with the space. The only choice for them is to redevelop it. With al of the city’s “theater resources” now dedicated to the Loew’s Kings (and rightly so) LIU will need to come up with a private partner to do something creative with the space. As the economy continues its rebound I am very hopeful of a full restoration.
I am researching this theater and am looking for interior elevation photos, particularly of the mezzanine that was cut off for the basketball court. Do any of you have or know of any?
Thanks!
I spoke to someone who goes there and he said they are using it as a dining hall now.
To Adam S, there is one photo some place on the internet which does show a small piece of the first mezzanine. It was in Life magazzine right after the first conversion. The photo shows a student jumping over a gym horse and you can just make out part of the mezz. You’ll have to do a web. search to find it. It’s the only photo I ever saw which has the mezz. in it.
Here’s a link to that Life Magazine issue. When you open it, just close the pop-up that asks about membership. The photo of the Paramount is on page 60, but the article (on classic movie palaces) begins on page 56. There’s a text box below the date of the magazine (which is February 19, 1971) where you can type the page # and hit “enter” on your keyboard.
Here is a link to a larger photo.
http://gothamist.com/2011/07/15/flashback_the_paramount_theater_in.php#photo-21