The Paramount prospered for decades despite the Depression and World War II. However, it was the advent of shopping malls and television that brought on its demise as a movie theatre. Paramount sold the building in 1973.
The Paramount's stage is a "modified thrust." The original stage was just 13ft deep. In the late 1970's, a thrust stage was added in front of the original. A series of major renovations and a historic restoration project have been completed over the past three years. Presently the total seating sits at 1024 in two levels of orchestra seating and a balcony.
Today the non-profit Paramount Centre for the Arts operates as a year-round multidisciplinary centre for the arts, with live performances, arts-in-education programmes, films, and visual art exhibitions.
Technical upgrades to the theatre include a new speaker system and a mixing console.The speaker systems is a flexible two in one set-up. The L and R main arrays consist of 12 Adamson SpekTrix and two Adamson SpekTrix Sub enclosures per side. There are also five Adamson CB1 near-fills present. The operating options are a Stereo four-way with near-fills, and a Stereo three-way with subs being fed by their own signal with near-fills, as a secondary option. The system is powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers and XTA DP6-i processors, a 24-channel Allen & Heath GL2400 sits at front of house.
(Jim Evans)
