Paramount Theatre
1700 Main Street,
Springfield,
MA
01103
1700 Main Street,
Springfield,
MA
01103
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This was Springfield’s finast. A true movie palace. It just missed the era of loges, but was very ornate with its percenium, chandaliers, tapistry, balcony and Broadway style facade.
I was fortunate enough to have been sent to Springfield to work on the restoration of the auditorium for Evergreene Painting Studios. On a day to day basis, for eight weeks, a painstaking cleaning process was instituted, enabling someone to witness the uncovering, through the removal of black soot caused by the coal heaters, of an irreplaceable gem of a structure. The owners, Mike & Steve, visited the site on a day-to-day basis and were astonished, as we all were, at the details uncovered daily. The really astonishing fact was that, in comparison, the Empire State Building took one year to the day from start to finish, for construction. The Hippodrome took twice as long to build!
Michael Marullo
Absolute Painting & Restoration
New York
As the Paramount, the theatre still had sporadic live shows between 1986 and 1999; I saw a stage version of the Rocky Horror Show there in 1991. At the time the auditorium looked a bit run-down but was still very beautiful.
So did they just rename it for Kitch value or what?
Adding to the above summaries, the Paramount Theater opened on September 28, 1929. It closed in 1969. In 1980, it returned to being the Paramount and closed again in 1986 until becoming the Hippodrome in 1999. Records showed that the Paramount had 708 seats on the main floor and 858 in it’s balcony. It survived the demise of all of downtown Springfield’s theaters.
The architect of the Paramount Theater was Ernest Carlson. After closing as a full time movie house in the 1960’s it was used for mixed use concerts & movies. In 1973 the name was changed to the Julia Sanderson Theatre, after a once well known Broadway actress and Springfield resident. Live shows were presented but in 1980 it was converted into a repertory movie house.
The original Wurlitzer 3/11 Opus 2011, Style 230 theatre organ is still in situ as are most of the original light fitings and painted murals.
As the single screen Paramount Theatre it once seated 3755 people.