History

Aurora, Illinois, earned the nickname “City of Lights” in the 1880s as one of the first American municipalities to use electric street lighting—the same civic pride that led city leaders to embrace the Paramount project enthusiastically when Balaban and Katz brought the theatre proposal in the late 1920s. Rapp & Rapp, the Chicago firm that had become the house architects for the Balaban and Katz and Paramount circuits, submitted a design that combined the geometric rigour of full Art Deco with the programmatic requirements of a 1,900-seat commercial movie palace.

The Paramount opened on September 1, 1931, during the depths of the Great Depression, offering Aurora residents a weekly escape from economic anxiety for the price of a cinema ticket. Paramount Pictures and the Balaban and Katz circuit supplied first-run Hollywood films directly from the studios, giving the theatre an immediate commercial advantage over its local competitors. The theatre thrived through the 1930s and 1940s but, like most single-screen palaces, saw attendance erode through the 1950s and 1960s as suburban multiplexes multiplied and downtown commercial districts declined.

Rather than see the Paramount demolished, the City of Aurora purchased and restored the building in the 1970s, converting it from a cinema to a multi-use performing arts centre. The restoration preserved the original Art Deco exterior and much of the auditorium’s decorative scheme. The Paramount has since expanded its programming to include Broadway touring productions, concerts, stand-up comedy, and community events, establishing itself as the cultural anchor of Aurora’s revitalised downtown. A separate producing arm, Paramount Theatre, was established to create original Chicago-area theatre productions.