AMC Loews Paramus Route 4 Tenplex
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
12 people
favorited this theater
Also known as the Loews Cineplex Route 4 Tenplex, and not to be confused with the triplex on Route 17, this theater was the premiere theater in Paramus. Opened in 1966 as a 2,000-seat single screen. It showed three strip Cinerama/Cinemiracle, and in the 1970’s it showed 70mm. Just a few years ago it was the first theater in the state to present the digitally projected “Star Wars Episode I”.
Originally a giant modern theater with the supersized Cinerama screen, it has been broken up and/or added onto multiple times. The first phase was the traditional upstairs-downstairs split which turned the balcony into a separate theater; the second split the former orchestra into two unequal rooms. Additional screens were added in two separate construction phases which probably quadrupled the number of seats.
It closed in May 2007.
Contributed by
Robert MacLeay
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Recent comments (view all 412 comments)
Come May, it will be four years since the theater was closed and became a ghost theater. What’s the latest on the vacant property?
What’s the latest?
When was Dolby Stereo installed at this theater? How about the digital surround sound systems?
Regarding the building itself, I’m hearing again that it’s going to be a 24-Hour Fitness Club.
Damn I remember this theater. I loved this place. HUUUUGE screen! I remember seeing Twister there on opening day, and walking outside while Paramus was under a tornado watch! That was very surreal. Great used record store used to be right next to this theater as well. Off topic, but I think it was called Musicmaker or something like that. Great rare finds were found there.
Drove by the theater twice today—it’s been gutted and a lot of holes cut in the building, presumably for new windows. If you look inside you’ll see some of the wall treatments that were in the auditoriums still hanging, but otherwise the dividing walls and balcony in the original building have been torn out.
“The Turning Point” in the balcony X-mas, ‘77; the only way to see Barishnikov not-live!
The conversion to the Dark Side is complete: The Tenplex has reopened as a 24/7 Fitness. See link for photos and floor plan: http://www.24hourfitness.com/FindClubDetail.do?clubid=00616&sessionId=&edit=null&semiPromoCode=null
Theater 1 is now a basketball court… :–/
I belong to the 24 Hour Fitness that now occupies what was this theater. It’s nice to see that the site is being used as opposed to just rotting like it has for a few years after it closed and the designers did not do a wholesale gutting. They’ve incorporated much of the main lobby (with the two flanking stairs that led up to the balcony sections) and the large theater space intact. If you remember this theater’s layout, you will be able to see it in the gym. I would have liked it if the designers of the gym had paid homage to what the space was maybe by using movie posters or something but they have not. The closest thing to it is the use of the upper balcony space for the cardio. The original slope of the balcony is still there and it looks down onto the large basketball area which was the main theater. You can literally see how good the sight lines were. It’s so high that it can be a bit dizzying.
I drove past it a few times recently (on the way to Edgewater Multiplex) – it must be a huge gym. It would have been cool if they kept a theatre in-tact as a “cardio theatre” – that is treadmills and ellipticals in one of the auditoriums with films screening. It sounds cool though that some of the architecture is still there, like the balcony.