Paramount Theatre
110 W. 2nd Street,
Plainfield,
NJ
07060
110 W. 2nd Street,
Plainfield,
NJ
07060
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Paramount-Publix, Walter Reade Theatres
Architects: Fuller Claflin, Thomas White Lamb
Styles: Oriental, Spanish Moorish
Previous Names: Elkwood Hall, Washington Hall, Amphion Theatre, New Plainfield Theatre, Plainfield Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Originally the Elkwood Hall, becoming the Washington Hall and then the Amphion Theatre. Redesigned to the plans of architect Fuller Claflin, it reopened as the New Plainfield Theatre on August 24, 1905 with the comedy play “The County Chairman”. Seating was provided for 1,353.
In 1928, the Plainfield Theatre was taken over by Paramount-Publix, and was remodelled to the plans of architect Thomas Lamb, and reopened as the Paramount Theatre on October 10, 1930 with Jack Buchanan in “Monte Carlo” & Charlie Ruggles in “The Hot Air Merchant”. A beautiful color photograph in the first edition of Ben Hall’s “The Best Remaining Seats” shows the Paramount’s stage curtain, with the caption: “The Paramount was Thomas Lamb’s answer to Sid Grauman. The dragon motif on the curtain was repeated on the ceiling and lobby walls; the facade was Spanish”.
The Paramount Theatre was demolished in August 1965.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
1942 progam:
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My father (80+ years old) who grew up in Plainfield, remembers the Paramount on W. Second very well. Shortly before the Paramount’s demolition, my mom was able to make contact with the appropriate party and get into the Paramount where she purchased some of the theatre wall sconces and a hanging fixture. Though she never used them, she still has them stored and they are spectacular. I was never in the Paramount myself, but just based on those dusty lighting fixtures, the place must have been absolutely spectacular!
The theaters page of the Plainfield Library’s online exhibit Plainfield: Lost But not Forgotten says that this house began as the Amphion Theatre, and then was known as Elkwood Hall and Washington Hall before becoming the Plainfield Theatre.
According to Andrew Craig Morrison’s book Theaters, the house reopened as the Plainfield Theatre on August 24, 1905, and the architect for the project was Fuller Claflin.
This: [img]http://www.plainfieldlibrary.info/OnlineExhibits/LBNF/Images/TheaterC21204.jpg[/img] is the Paramont in Plainfield. The interior was as marvelous as the exterior. It wasn’t Chinese in style – it was Egyptian revival style (like the outside) – with two large seated gold figures (20' tall or so) seated in large recesses on either side of the stage. I imagine the pipe organ pipes were behind them.
It was torn down in the mid ‘60’s as part of the fad of “Urban Renewal” – where the federal government funded the buyout of business districts with the idea of leveling them and having something like a shopping mall take their place.
They did level the entire block, unfortunately including the Paramont.. and the block became a dirt parking lot for the next few decades as businesses around it left for the highway malls, or simply went out of business.
Really loved that theatre – it was one of the few that equaled the other theatres in Asbury Park that the Reade organization destroyed.
See the photo section for photos of the actual theatre. I have no idea what the one above was – but it wasn’t the Paramount.
deilenberger: The photo currently displayed at the head of the Paramount page is the Plainfield Theatre, which did indeed become the Paramount in later years. See the first photo on this page, which shows the Paramount about 1950. Note that the building to the left, with the distinctive crow-stepped gable, is the same building seen in the much earlier photo of the Plainfield Theatre.
When the Plainfield was remodeled in 1928, architect Thomas Lamb added the grand entrance to the right of the original building, and remodeled the original facade to match the style of the addition. The interior was extensively altered as well, of course. I’m sure that very little of the old Plainfield remained once Lamb was done with it, but the shell survived.
August 19th, 1905 grand opening ad in the photo section.
This reopened as Paramount on October 10th, 1930. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
The Paramount was demolished in Aug of 1965. Newspaper pix just added.
I took a photo this morning of the rendering mentioned in the overview of the stage curtain (from my copy of The Best Remaining Seats) and posted it in the photos.