Elizabeth De Hart

Landmarkin'

Paradise.png
On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated three city properties as landmarks. The first, shown here, is the Loew's Paradise Theater interior, at 2405-2419 Grand Concourse, in the Bronx.

The John Eberson-design building was completed in September of 1929; it was one of five so-called "wonder" theaters, which served large population centers outside of Manhattan. It has 4,000 seats and was designed "to evoke the art and architecture of the late Renaissance or early Baroque period," as the L.P.C. puts it. Boston's Caproni and Brother produced many of the sculptures that grace the interior, along with artificial trees, vines and birds.

The theater was converted to a multiplex in 1973, then closed in 1993, before reopening as an entertainment center in October 2005.

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