It was in 1938 that the Comerford movie chain chose this site on Public Square on which to erect a movie house as a monument to founder Michael E. Comerford. The grandest of flagship cinemas was planned, replacing a bus terminal, a printing company, a stonecutter and a drug store.
The result was an advanced art deco dream ... lavish interior appointments, five lobbies, oval rose-colored mirrors, tall fluted columns, doors and walls in copper tints with shades of metallic blue. All of this was topped off by the "Giant Lavaliere," the spectacular chandelier that still graces the lobby of the Kirby Center today. In 1949, ownership of the Comerford Theater was transferred to the Penn Paramount Company, and the building was renamed the Paramount Theater. It continued to operated as one of Northeastern Pennsylvania's majestic, single screen movie palaces for another twenty-seven years.
Not even the muddy, fourteen foot deep flood waters of Hurricane Agnes in the summer of 1972 could keep her closed. But, the natural disaster that befell the entire Wyoming Valley took its toll. The newly opened multiplex at a newly opened mall became the focal point of film-goers as the valley city dug itself out from the tons of mud and flood debris. Many of the downtown businesses never recovered and were later razed as part of a massive urban redevelopment plan. Two other downtown screens would be demolished during the mid and late 1970's, but the Paramount hung on.
Finally, the economics of operating a large, single screen building, coupled with the change in shopping patterns and the free parking associated with the mall cineplex, forced the Paramount to close its doors in late 1977. The theater was now in private hands. Attempts were made to use the facility but they were hollow echoes of the glory that had once been. Closed circuit televised boxing was tried - and failed. A few touring concert acts performed to mostly filled houses, but the overall deterioration of the building coupled with a lack of current equipment made it impossible to succeed.
The owner, unaware or uncaring of the historic value of the structure, gutted the luxurious box office lobby, selling off or demolishing the large fluted lighting standards and cutting apart the brass and bronze door frames. Removed were the curved glass display cases, as well as the brass and marble ticket booth that had stood in front. In their place, a vegetable market was first tried. Later, a diner of sorts was installed. Neither venture succeeded and the owner, now unable to make a go of it, decided to demolish the structure.
Fortunately, a group of local residents banded together under the acronym S.T.O.P. (Save The Old Paramount.) They were successful in having the building added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, but even so, it was basically abandoned. . . until 1985. Enter Albert Boscov. The owner of one of the nation's largest, privately owned department store chains, Boscov's, was no stranger to Wilkes-Barre. A few years earlier he had purchased one of the last remaining downtown department stores (Fowler, Dick and Walker - The Boston Store.) This was his first multi-storied store and the people of Wilkes-Barre showed that a downtown store was still a good idea. So much so that the store was the leading dollar producer of Boscov's entire chain for many years.
Mr. Boscov wanted a way to say "Thank you" to the people of Wilkes-Barre. And the abandoned Paramount was just the right way. In 1985, Boscov began to meet with local business and civic leaders to put together a drive to acquire the property and raise the necessary $4,300,000 to get the doors open.
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