Paramount Theatre
139 S. Center Street,
Goldsboro,
NC
27530
139 S. Center Street,
Goldsboro,
NC
27530
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Once operated by North Carolina Theatres.
This theater was also known as the Paramount Twin (after Martin Theatres twinned it), reverting to Paramount Theatre when it reopened as a live venue.
Shouldn’t this be listed as closed and demolished since, while the old Paramount was at one time a movie theatre it is now totally gone, and the new Paramount has never been a movie theatre?
Closed in 1984 by Martin Theatres.
By 1982,this theatre was twinned by Martin Theatres where the original 500 seats were split into two sections with 250 seats each in both auditoriums before it closed by the mid-1980’s.
I remember going into the Paramount is a kid. One movie I remember watching was the new movie “Grease”. You would walk in and take a right turn to walk up the small ramp to pay for your ticket and then you would buy your drink and popcorn. I remember the carpet being bright red during this time. I never did sat in the balcony. During this time in the late 70’s you had several movie theatre to go to in Goldsboro. I have pictures of the Paramount the few days after the building burned and being roped off downtown. I found this site by accident looking for information on the Air Vue Drive-In theatre. It use to be Berkeley Blvd across the street from News-Argus.
I now work at the Paramount and didn’t even realize this site was out there. I’m currently on the search for pictures of the original building…so please let me know if any of you would be able to send me any (my email address is ). And NightHawk1, so you know…there are no original parts of the theatre since reconstruction. The building is brand new from the foundation up. The original intention was to try and save the front facade…but it was too damaged. The new building has a wider footprint because the small office to the side was also torn down after the damage.
Did any part of the original Paramount survive the fire? The rebuilt Paramount looks shorter and wider than the old one.
An interesting coincidence: I saw a couple of Ava Gardner movies yesterday (she’s November’s “star of the month” on the Turner Classic Movies channel) and just now, when I did a Google search on the Paramount in Goldsboro, I found a biography of her that says that in 1940, when she was attending Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in nearby Wilson, North Carolina, a fellow named J.M. Fordham took her to a movie at the Paramount.
The Paramount has a full schedule of events. Status should be open, and function should be performing arts or live performances.
Have a frontal picture if anyone want to see it (And it is BEFORE the Fire,too)
The Paramount Theater is open and don’t worry, i’ve got plenty of pictures of the old one and the new one. The new one, I have pictures of the outside AND the inside!!
Here is another site that discusses the event held on 2/15/08:
http://www.cstheatre.org/paramount.shtml
Those looking updates on the paramount goldsboro, nc use the link below:
http://www.goldsboroparamount.com/
Link to the New Rebuilt Paramount in Goldsboro NC
I am referring to a full frontal of the Paramount!! Refer to my first POST! Trying to find a picture that someone has taken from the street.
This is a PG site. No full frontal allowed.
Still looking for the full frontal but thanks. ANYONE ELSE?
Renovation in discussion October 2006 and January 2007. The link also takes you to the Paramount Theater website:
http://tinyurl.com/24otqs
Does anyone know where I can get a frontal picture of the Paramount before the fire?
The Goldsboro area has suffered a great loss. The Paramount was our only real public area to house anything in regards to the arts. The city is looking right now into rebuilding the Paramount. For more information visit http://www.goldsboro.com
Historic landmark goes up in flames
2/19/2005 3:35 PM
By: Ken Derksen & Web Staff
(GOLDSBORO)— A historic landmark in Goldsboro went up in flames early Saturday morning. The paramount theatre located on Center Street in downtown caught fire around 3:45 AM.
Dozens of firefighters spent hours battling the blaze. The building that housed the Paramount was more than a century old and in recent years used as a performing arts center.
Diane Lancaster watched her childhood memories go up in smoke Saturday morning. She said, “I used to go there when I was a little teeny girl. I used to love to watch cartoons.”
When firefighters arrived at the historic Paramount Theatre, flames were shooting thirty feet in the air. Tonya Gill was with her mother at an apartment across the street when she heard fire trucks pulling up. Gill said, “We came down stairs and we seen the smoke and everything. And all of a sudden, the flames just shot up into the sky. Then we saw it collapse.”
The building housing the Paramount was constructed in 1882 with the actual theatre opening in the 1920’s as a 900 seat movie house. In more recent years the theatre was used mainly as a performing arts center.
Gill added, “I was going to take my son to see Peter Pan next week. Because neither one of us had been in there. But I’ve always heard my grandmother telling stories.”
Firefighters spent hours battling the blaze, trying to keep it from spreading to nearby buildings. For some business owners, they’re grateful their hard work wasn’t in vain.
Monika Barkley’s business, Phoenix Construction, has sat next to the Paramount for the past five years. She says when she first heard about the fire, she feared her own livelihood would go up in flames. She said, “That’s my biggest concerns right now, is the financial records and my files and everything.” Fortunately, flames were kept mostly to the theatre, nearby buildings just sustained smoke and water damage. Firefighters say only one other building, a backstage entrance to the theater, caught fire.
For fire crews the toughest challenge was the buildings age. Goldsboro Fire Chief, Bobby Greenfield said, “Since the fire broke through the roof, there wasn’t much to go inside to save. The way the building’s constructed, it was very difficult for firefighters to extinguish the fire, particularly on the third floor.”
Lancaster said she’ll miss the theatre, but is grateful for the countless number of lives it touched by the arts within. No one was hurt in the fire. The cause is under investigation. The theatre was a total loss. Firefighters estimate the damage could be up to a million dollars.
Copyright C 2005 TWEAN d.b.a. News 14 Carolina