Emerson Bails Out the Paramount

While staggering home last week after one too many Mai Tais and delicious wasabi peas served at the bar at Peking Tom's, Bostonist walked past the brightly-lit Paramount Theater sign and wondered why it was all lit up when there was nothing actually inside of it. Located next door to the newly renovated Opera House on Washington Street, the Paramount was last open in 1976 as a porno house, before closing its doors. Since then, its illuminating sign has been restored as part of Mayor Menino's revitalization plan for the once pornographic Downtown Crossing section of Boston. In 1995, Menino placed the Opera House, the Paramount, and the Modern Theater on the National Trust for Historic Preservation list. The Opera House has since been reopened and was home to a long run of the Lion King musical and now is home to The Phantom of the Opera until June 4th. Menino tried in 2002 to get the Paramount up again too but the partnership with the American Repertory Theater (ART) fizzled.

Emerson College has decided to finance the renovation with $70 million dollars going toward the theater, as well as the Arcade building and vacant lot behind it. This would include theaters, rehearsal rooms, student housing and retail space. While it will be nice for the students of the college to use, Emerson has promised to open up the theater to nonprofit art groups in Boston too. The project is not scheduled to be finished until 2008, so plans are not definite yet, but talk is of a 450-500 seat theater and then a smaller 125 seat black-box theater. The renovations won't be easy, either. First off, the Paramount has been left empty for almost 20 years. Built in 1932, its stage reaches a whopping 11 feet deep and has very little slope to the audience seats, making it hard to see when seated behind a very large head.

Bostonist thinks this is a great project for the city of Boston. While Downtown Crossing isn't exactly as polished as neighboring Back Bay and Beacon Hill, it has come a long way and this new project will hopefully add some more oommph to the theater scene here in the city.

Photo courtesy of Emerson College