Long Island University’s (LIU) long-running restoration of the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre is expected to be completed in the first or second quarter of 2024. This will be accomplished with the aid of Live Nation, which currently has a 25-year operating lease for the building.
Plans originally began in 2015 with Onexim, a company owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, but progress halted as Onexim looked for new investors to take over operations. This, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly offset any chance of an as-planned 2019 reopening.
In a recent meeting in June 2023 with Brooklyn’s Community Board 2’s Health, Environment & Social Services Committee, progress was shown by Live Nation representatives, though the page on LIU’s website has yet to be updated. It will be opening as the LIU Brooklyn Paramount Theatre.
The Paramount Theatre originally operated from 1928 to 1962 as a live performance venue and was also the first theater designed to show talking movies. It helped introduce Jazz to Brooklyn and was an early home to Rock. The Theatre had performances by iconic musicians, such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Bing Crosby, Buddy Holly, and Chuck Berry.
In 1962, the Paramount Theatre closed its doors. LIU would go on to turn the location into a gym, though it retained the original Rococo-style ceiling and other decorative details. The gym at what once was the Paramount would be replaced, and plans for the restoration would be made. It is hoped by LIU that the renovations will bring opportunities for internships and hands-on experience across disciplines.
The original 2015 plan had a $50 million budget, but current numbers have not been released.
The theatre is still home to one of two working models of the Wurlitzer 4/26 orchestral organ, the other at home in Radio City. The 1928 instrument is the only one that is still 100% original, and it is maintained by the New York Theatre Organ Society (NYTOS). It is capable of replicating the sound of a full symphony orchestra through a single, very intricate instrument.
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