Yesterday the Paramount Theater began its six day replacement process of the iconic 1930′s era “Paramount” sign. An exact replica will be going up that is said to be 90% more energy efficient. Being the stick in the mud that I am, I’d rather leave the semi-functioning sign there — inefficiency, non-working lights and all. Yet I’d say this is “progress” we can all live with.
Check out the Paramount photos below from photographer Marion Dean Ross in 1974.
Also check out Gaby’s
sketch and these
excellent photos of the takedown.
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| The Paramount Theater. Photographed by Marion Dean Ross — May 4, 1974. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
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| The Paramount Theater. Photographed by Marion Dean Ross — May 4, 1974. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
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| The Paramount Theater. Photographed by Marion Dean Ross — May 4, 1974. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
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| The Paramount Theater. Photographed by Marion Dean Ross — May 4, 1974. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
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| The Paramount Theater. Photographed by Marion Dean Ross — May 4, 1974. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
Barry White!!!
Just saw Wicked there last Friday night (I see evening parking was $1.00 in 1974 – we paid $20). Wish I’d had my Nikon but alas our photos of many of these same angles were on my 12 year old’s camera – and it was at drizzly dusk. I must return to take photos of this great old building.
Thanks for posting.
Well, please don’t be too upset. The Paramount sign was not the original either…
Originally it opened as “the Seattle”, and the original sign said “Seattle”. It originally sat 4,000… if they had not upgraded that to 2,803 today, most of us could not fit in the seats… (folks were thinner back then)
Among the many upgrades that the building has seen to make it more viable, which in turn kept it alive, is the ablity for the floor to change shape from theatre raking to flat like a ballroom. There are 219 light fixtures with more than 3.5 million pieces of crystal glass, including some mondo chandeliers.. sadly, within about six months of it’s grand opening, it was shuttered thanks to Black Monday in 1929, then re-opened… one of the lost parts in the hubris was the ADDITIONAL two chandeliers that had been ordered for the front three arch windows. There is but one there today. The legend is that the other two were built, but where not delivered due to lack of payment and supposidly were subsuquently sold and are in use at the St. Regis in San Francisco.
Additional history:
http://www.stgpresents.org/paramount/
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3945
http://www.pstos.org/instruments/wa/seattle/paramount/theparamount.htm
Having just written a story about the sign, it really did need to be replaced. It was in such a state of disrepair it would have become a hazard before too long.
$1.00 for all day parking downtown?! Gee, the ’70s were a better decade than I remember them being!
Ahhh, the 70′s…The Allman Brothers at the Paramount and some fine windowpane. I’m amazed I remember The 70′s!
one other note… these 1974 photos show the building before they added the much improved and needed ticket window on the west wall…
That sign was chock full of Birds nests and water had to have gotten inside eventually.
Are the top 5 (7 really) floors residential units or office space for the theater?
The property report says residential Units, though they seem to be in disrepair. The windows look like they need to be replaced
They WERE Residential units. A way to help get the loans to build the building was to have multiple uses within. The upper floors facing north were all spiffy apartments, many with full kitchens, dining rooms along with living and bed rooms. There were some musicians who lived in building who also had studios and taught in the building. The last of the apartment dwellers moved out in the late 1990′s. STG has offices on the top three floors, along with storage on several floors. I do not believe there are any private units left. At one time there were a few entertainment related offices also had offices in the building.
Dang. Would love to see what’s left of them. I think an e-mail is in order.
I just thought of this. How would you like to have that huge neon sign shining in your bedroom window at night?!
I spent many a wonderful evening at that beautiful theatre in the 70´s: Kiss, Rush, Blondie, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Ramones, the Clash…and I believe the Guess Who released a live album from there as well..
Cool, Louis.
My first experience at the Paramount was Oingo Boingo in 1987.. I have loved going there ever since.
1972 Guess Who was my first Parmount rock show…
Lovely, thanks for the update.
In 1978 I was hired as casual labor for the princely sum of $15/hr (min wage at the time was about $2.50) to hang from the edge with a lite harness and replace the 15w bulbs on the outside chasers as part of a major remodel. It had been many years since the previous change, many of the bulbs were broken out and had to be removed with the butt end of a screwdriver. I’m not a mountaineer, so doing this kind of work 7 stories over the street was quite the adventure. During that project, it was heartbreaking to observe a miniature screening room seating about 12 or 15 being removed to be replaced with a dressing room.
I haven’t seen it mentioned here, but the reason it was named the Seattle Theatre was that the Paramount name was in use at the theatre that is presently the (pink) Guild 45th in Wallingford, heart of the Birkenstock Belt. Apparently the owner wanted more for the naming rights than Paramount Pictures was willing to pony up, but a few years later an understanding was reached.
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Hello admin, I imagine it’s time to update the junk filter. Too many useless replies are being created. I have a couple of options if you’re curious. Best Regards.
I know this is really boring and you are skipping to ws sign the next comment, but I just wanted to throw you a big thanks you cleared up some things for me!
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Your RSS feed doesn’t work in my browser (safari) how can I fix it?
Don’t forget The Guess Who’s album “Live at the Paramount” was remastered a few years ago with extra tracks added. I had the pleasure of touring the Paramount in 1998. Standing on the same stage that the Guess Who played on is a moment I’ll never forget.