Paramount Theatre (Denver)

The Paramount Theatre is a concert venue in Denver, Colorado, located on Glenarm Place, near Denver's famous 16th Street Mall. The venue has a seating capacity of 1,870, but is a popular destination for large acts looking for a smaller concert setting. With spelling as Paramount Theater, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.HistoryThe Paramount opened in 1930 as a movie theatre, part of the Paramount-Publix Theatre Circuit, the exhibition arm of Paramount Pictures. The theatre itself was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp, with decorations by designer Vincent Mondo, murals by Louis Grell of Chicago. The original main entry to the theatre was at 519 16th Street, where an entrance lobby was cut through an existing commercial and office building.The three story office and commercial building featuring what was then the theatre's secondary entrance on Glenarm Place, now the main entrance, was designed by the local architect Temple H. Buell. Buell's design is a modernized, art deco interpretation of the Gothic style, executed largely in cast concrete and white terra cotta.For several decades the Paramount enjoyed success as one of the premier movie houses in the Rocky Mountain region. Then, like other large movie theatres, its patronage declined as population and commerce dispersed into new suburban areas. The venue has survived and evolved, and now plays host to numerous concert and performance acts. The theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and the city of Denver recognized it as a historic landmark in 1988. Eight years later, Sinbad performed his HBO comedy special "Son of a Preacher Man" here.