Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater has a history of beating the odds.
(Paramount Theater)
Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater is no stranger to weathering hard times. The building, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, was opened as a grand movie palace in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression. After a commercial downturn in the area in the mid-1970s, the theater was saved from the wrecking ball in 1992 when a group of citizens privately raised funds to preserve it. Ten years later, in 2002, an $18 million renovation project began, bringing the building back to life as the Downtown Mall staple that it is today.
Now a robust community performing arts center, the Paramount is a place for education, enchantment, enrichment, and enlightenment through the arts. Musicians like Tony Bennett, Renee Fleming, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, and Kacey Musgraves have all performed at the Paramount. The theater hosts the Virginia Film Festival, live screenings of UVA sports, and family movie nights. Additional amenities include a ballroom, meeting spaces, and a community rehearsal room. The theater is such a success that, four years ago, it was named an Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT), which recognizes a theater that demonstrates excellence through its community impact, quality of program and services, and quality of the restoration or rehabilitation of its historic structure.
“The Paramount is still standing today because of the community, for the community,” says director of marketing Maran Garland. “We continue to safely welcome guests under modified operations, but look forward to gathering again with 1,041 of our closest friends once restrictions are lifted.” TheParamount.net
