Downtown Heritage Tour

Theatres designed in the early 20th century featured deep stages for vaudeville and other live entertainment. When silent movies became popular, vaudeville acts frequently preceded the movie, so the deep stages were still necessary. With the advent of talking pictures, the movie industry narrowed the stages and developed flashy, exotic interiors. Paramount Pictures began to build theatres with increasingly dramatic interior spaces specifically for showing movies. The Paramount was built in 1931 in Aurora, at the peak of this opulent movie palace trend. It was designed by George and C.W. Rapp, architects of the Chicago Theatre as well as the Rialto Theatre in Joliet. The Paramount underwent a $2.9 million renovation in 1978, and continues life as a prestigious regional cultural attraction.
The auditorium is designed to feel like an outdoor performance space. Painted fabric murals imply distant vistas, while a plaster medallion and petal chandelier are set in a sky-blue ceiling accented with stylized silver rays extending from the center. The exterior makes lavish use of multi-colored decorative terra cotta, especially emphasizing the unusual lowered entry.
The Paramount Park existed from 1930 to 1934[.] It contained paths, a pond, garden, and miniature golf. It was a restful retreat area open only to theatre patrons. In November 1987 the space was re-dedicated as Sesquicentennial Park. The sculpture, "City Lights, City Life," by Chicago artist Jerry Peart, is its central feature.
This image of the Paramount Theatre was taken shortly after its opening in September 1931. Paramount Park, the area to the west of the Parmount's entrance, offered a respite for theatre patrons. It existed at the site from 1930-1934.
Photo Courtesy of the Aurora Historical Society
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This property has been placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
by the United States Department of Interior
March 18, 1980
Plaque donated by the family of
Gerald C. Klose
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Paramount Arts Centre
1931
Architects - George and C.W. Rapp
Art Deco Theater with Terra Cotta
Ornamentation.
Listed in the National Register of
Historic Places, 1980. (Marker Number 20.)

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