From the Marx Brothers to Lou Reed to Green Day, it seems that anybody who’s anybody has played at either Convention Hall or the Paramount Theater since the venues first opened in 1930. Located on the historic Asbury Park boardwalk and connected by a grand arcade, the two venues have characters all of their own. Convention Hall has a wood-floored ballroom that’s a great setting for harder rocking shows; the Paramount retains the warm feel of an elegant theater from a bygone era and hosts performers such as Reed and Levon Helm.
For tickets to ENCORE, call (718) 627-4300.
In 1916, Asbury Park Mayor Clarence E. F. Hetrick hired famed architectural firm McKim, Mead and White to design a convention center for the block just north of the city’s Atlantic Square, between 6th and Sunset Avenues. The firm submitted a plan that called for a 5,000-seat venue costing $75,000 to construct. However, city founder James A. Bradley owned the block in question, then home to the aging Asbury Park Auditorium, and refused to sell the plot to the city. After Bradley’s death in 1921, department store scion Arthur Steinbach purchased the property from Bradley’s estate, demolished the auditorium, and constructed the Berkeley-Carteret Hotel on the plot.
The completion of Madison Square Garden in New York, and the approval of Atlantic City’s new Convention Hall, put Hetrick under considerable pressure to construct a similar venue for Asbury Park. “While we have hesitated, Atlantic City has added $100,000,000 in valuations,” he told the Asbury Park Press.
In 1927, after a mysterious fire destroyed the 5th Avenue Arcade just east of Atlantic Square on the Boardwalk, voters passed a bond referendum to construct a new convention center on the plot. Hetrick commissioned architects Warren and Wetmore, whose eventual design called for a 1,600-seat theatre to occupy the old 5th Avenue Arcade plot. The theatre was connected to an enclosed arcade that covered the boardwalk. The entire complex was designed in a combination Italian-French style, with an emphasis on nautical themes in recognition of its oceanfront location. The interior of the theatre featured a giant rosette on the ceiling.
Walter Reade, who owned four other theatres in Asbury Park, initially protested the new theatre’s construction, saying five theaters were one too many for the town. However, just prior to the theatre’s completion, he was given the contract to book movies at the venue. As part of a deal Reade brokered with film distributor Paramoun Famous Players-Lasky, the new theatre was named the Paramount Theatre.
A spectacular grand opening of the Paramount Theatre was held on July 11, 1930. In attendance were Charles “Buddy” Rogers, the Marx Brothers, Ginger Rogers, Ed Wynn, Fredric March and Carole Lombard.
The Paramount theatre featured a mix of movies and live performances from 1930 into the 1980s. The 1,600-seat theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
After many glorious performances, the seaside structure was in critical need of repair. It has recently benefited from the restoration and reopened in 2007. The Paramount Theatre celebrated its grand reopening with a lively summer season produced by The Park Players in association with Madison Marquette. An exuberant and commanding presence anchoring Asbury Park’s boardwalk, the Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre are colorful and grandiose both in structure and in spirit.
