Paramount Theater
Plans to build a new theater in Ashland, at the corner of Winchester Avenue & 13th, were announced during the summer of 1928. At that time, soon after the end of World War I, Ashland was a thriving community. The American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO), as well as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company had begun local operations. The city’s population had nearly doubled in the preceding decade and residents were prospering as never before.
When the project was finalized, it was owned by Ashland citizens but built to the specifications of Publix Enterprises Incorporated, a subsidiary of the Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, who agreed to lease the theater, and furnish and operate the it to show films produced by Paramount studios.
Construction of the new theater was delayed however, first by the growing popularity of “talking” pictures; later by the stock market crash of October 1929. In the summer of 1930, the lot was cleared and construction began on the Paramount Theater. L. E. Payne of Joliet, Illinois was the contractor on the project, which was built using Armco steel and local timber. At a time when unemployment in our country was at an all-time high, work on the Paramount provided much needed work for local residents.
When construction was complete, Paramount-Publix spared no expense in furnishing this modern theater. Gold, bronze and aluminum leaf paint gleamed across the lavishly carved arch above the giant movie screen (which, at 23 ft wide x 17 ft high, was three times larger than any other movie screen in the Ohio Valley) and atop the carved floral garlands crowning the hand-painted wall murals. Solid brass lighting fixtures illuminated the richly-painted ceiling and washed light over the walls between the murals. Heavy, velvet drapes of green and gold; rich burgundy-colored, plush-padded seats; and a wool carpet, in an intricate pattern of burgundy and gold, added to the theater’s Art Deco grandeur.
At a time before central heat and air, a refrigeration system used huge blowers to move air across blocks of ice to provide a continuous circulation of cool air during warm weather. During the cooler weather, the same blowers circulated warm air supplied by a coal-burning furnace. The cost for the building and its furnishings was reported to be $400,000. In today’s dollars, that would be something in excess of $4,000,000!
Described as the “finest theater between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati”, the 1,554-seat Paramount Theater was the first motion picture theater in the Ohio Valley built exclusively to show “talking pictures.” On Saturday evening, Sep 5, 1931 crowds lined Winchester Avenue waiting, to pay the admission price of 40 cents for adults and 10 cents for children, to see the Paramount’s first film.
Through the 1930’s and ‘40’s, the Paramount continued to be a successful theater. Things began to change in the 1950’s. Television and drive-in theaters contributed to fewer theater patrons. All across the country, theaters similar to the Paramount were being closed and razed to make room for modern structures. The Paramount appeared headed for the same fate until a small group of citizens formed a non-profit organization, purchased the building in 1972 and began the process of turning it into a home for performing arts.
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