Community Impact


The Paramount Theater of Charlottesville, Virginia is a nonprofit performing arts center dedicated to presenting a wide range of arts, education, and entertainment events with the charitable goal of reaching diverse audiences. Since it re-opened in 2004, The Paramount has welcomed more than 500,000 visitors to hundreds of live performances, movies, HD broadcasts, meetings and free community events. In addition to being an economic generator, bringing vital dining and retail traffic to Charlottesville’s downtown pedestrian mall, The Paramount has resumed its place at the heart of our community.


History When The Paramount opened its doors in 1931, it was the pride of the region. Even at the height of the Great Depression, its designers spared no expense, bringing to the residents of this small, southern college town a movie-going experience usually available only in much larger cities. Charlottesville’s was the smallest of the Paramount movie palaces designed by the renowned Rapp and Rapp of Chicago. In addition, it was unique in its architectural references: in homage to Thomas Jefferson, the architects specified an octagonal ceiling reminiscent of the president’s home, Monticello, and silk tapestries that recalled the neoclassical style that Jefferson encountered in France—a far cry from the Art Deco style favored by the firm at that time.


For the next four decades, The Paramount remained the favorite place for Charlottesville residents to gather for entertainment and edification. However, like so many other historic theaters, the Paramount suffered as the Charlottesville’s downtown began to decline in the 1960s and into the 1970s, when many businesses moved to new, suburban shopping centers. A 1973 fire next door damaged The Paramount slightly, and by 1974 business had deteriorated to a point where the theater’s operators lost their lease, and the grand, old movie palace closed its doors for what would be a thirty-year hiatus.


Restoration


By the early 1990s, The Paramount was slipping into ruin. Although its walls and foundation were strong, its roof had leaked for years. Its ceiling was crumbling, and the luxuriant gilded plasterwork around the stage had begun to melt away.


But if you stood under the elegant octagonal dome of the auditorium and listened


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