Paramount Theatre
211 N. Queen Street,
Kinston,
NC
28501
211 N. Queen Street,
Kinston,
NC
28501
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Paramount Pictures Inc., Stewart and Everett , Wilby-Kincey
Architects: A. Mitchell Wooten
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Loftin's Opera House, Grand Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Located in downtown Kinston on Queen Street, Loftin’s Opera House was opened by 1898. It was renamed Grand Theatre on January 6, 1914. In the early-1930’s it was taken over by Paramount Pictures Inc. and operated through their subsidiary Wilby-Kincy. It was renamed Paramount Theatre.
The Paramount Theatre was damaged by fire in the late-1940’s and was restored and remodeled to the plans of architect A. Mitchell Wooten. The Paramount Theatre was later transformed into a nightclub, the Paramount City Lounge, which closed in 2013. It reopened as the Platinum nightclub in 2014, but was closed in January 2015. The building was being restored in August 2024.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
In the mid-1970s the Paramount ran R-rated “B” movies and charged ninety-nine cents adult admission. Downtown Kinston was declining due to competition from shopping centers, and the Paramount could not compete with the suburban theatres as a first-run house. Stewart & Everett went to second-run and “B” films to keep the Paramount going. After S&E picked up a defunct theatre at Kinston Plaza and re-opened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975, the jig was up for the Paramount. S&E chose to close the Paramount rather than convert it into a pornhouse.
This theater was opened in 1915 as the Grand Theatre. Paramount Pictures (through Wilby-Kincey) took over the Grand in the early 1930s and renamed it the Paramount Theatre. The Paramount Theatre was damaged by fire in the late 1940s and subsequently remodeled.
Paramount City Lounge has closed; its website is no longer functioning.
Kinston had at least two other downtown “white” theaters besides the Paramount. The Oasis Theatre was located at 106 South Queen Street and the building at 102 S. Queen Street may have been the Carolina Theatre. The Center Theatre also operated downtown, possibly an AKA for either the Oasis or the Carolina theaters.
Another nightclub, the Platinum Club, has been operating in the former Paramount Theatre since the start of 2014; may have taken over the previous club (Paramount City Lounge) before then.
The Platinum nightclub has been evicted from the former Paramount Theatre due to nonpayment of rent and frequent violence. The Paramount Theatre building is currently vacant.
Circa 1962 photo added courtesy of the AmeriCar The Beautiful Facebook page.
Early Grand Theatre print ad image added via Jane Gradeless Phillips‎. Contains 4 photos.
I only just read that its being restored. Look up The Paramount Project.
This was originally known as the Loftin’s Opera House as early as 1898, and was renamed the Grand Theatre on January 6, 1914.