![]() ![]() In effort to re-model the building to accommodate various small business operations, and without consideration to the historical value of the structure, the luxurious box office lobby was gutted, large fluted lighting standards were sold or demolished, the brass and bronze door frames were cut, and curved glass display cases along with the brass and marble exterior ticket booth were removed. #COYOTE DRIVE IN MOVIE#During the late 1970s and early 1980s, when it was no longer a movie house, the theater was used as a venue for touring concerts and closed-circuit television boxing matches - hollow echoes of the glory that had once been. #COYOTE DRIVE IN FREE#Two other downtown screens were demolished during the mid and late 1970's, but the Paramount hung on.įinally, the economics of operating a large, single screen building, coupled with changed shopping patterns and the free parking associated with the mall cineplex, forced the Paramount to close its doors in late 1977 and it transferred to a new owner. Many of the downtown businesses never recovered and were later razed as part of a massive urban redevelopment plan. A new multiplex at a newly opened mall became the focal point of film-goers as Wilkes-Barre residents dug out from the tons of mud and flood debris. But, the natural disaster that befell the entire Wyoming Valley took its toll. Not even the muddy, 14-foot deep flood waters of Hurricane Agnes in the Summer of 1972 could keep the theater closed. It continued to operate as one of Northeastern Pennsylvania's majestic, single screen movie palaces for another twenty-seven years.Ī Hurricane and Urban Redevelopment Take Their Toll In 1949, due to an anti-trust lawsuit, ownership of the Comerford Theater was transferred to the Penn Paramount Company and the building was renamed the Paramount Theater. The 1940s brought about a time of change for the theater. Holding nearly 2,000 patrons, the theater had the largest capacity in the area and was technologically advance for its time making hearing aid equipped seats, air conditioning, and a nursery with a matron. All of this was topped off by the "Giant Lavaliere," a glorious chandelier which still graces the lobby of the Kirby Center today, with a similar version located in the Empire State Building. a lavish interior with five lobbies, oval rose-colored mirrors, tall fluted columns, doors and walls in copper tints with shades of metallic blue. The result was an advanced art deco dream. The grandest of movie houses was planned, replacing a bus terminal, a printing company, a stonecutter and a drug store. Comerford 45-theater chain located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and New York. ![]() In 1937 the Comerford movie chain chose this site on Public Square on which to erect a movie house as a monument to founder Michael E. That was the beginning of a rich and colorful history for the building that is now called the F. In August 18, 1938, the Comerford Movie Theater opened its doors to the public, showing the movie, Alexander's Ragtime Band, starring, Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, and Alice Faye. ![]()
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