AMC Loews Paramus Route 4 Tenplex
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
14 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 418 comments)
“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.
Described in this now rather faded 1966 trade article: Boxoffice
That picture on this page shows a screen thats quite small. Is this from the early years or when it was divided?
google it and find out.
Thanks. What was the last 70mm movie played at this theater?
Information on 70mm film presentations at this theater can be found at:
http://fromscripttodvd.com/70mm_in_new_york_main_page.htm
You can search 70mm engagements by year. Thanks.
The picture of the screen in the article is from the early years. It doesn’t look 62 feet wide in that photo, but I watched “2001” from the front row of that theater and the screen was definitely not small.