The F.M. Kirby Center (formerly known as the Comerford Theatre and Paramount Theatre) is a historic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

- Moderne style

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

located at

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980.

History

Comerford Theater was built in 1937 as an

- Moderne style theater building on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre. The building takes an irregular trapezoidal shape. It is of steel frame and brick construction with a four bay wide,

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and marble front facade. The front facade features a stylized

ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has ...

composition, a central tower, corrugated steel decoration, and a marquee. ''Note:'' This includes It was added to the

in 1980. The Capitol Theatre, also on Public Square, was built in 1920. It was renamed the Comerford Theatre after the original Comerford was renamed the Paramount in the 1940s. The second Comerford was multiplexed and renamed the Barre East-West Loge in the 1970s and demolished soon after. The theatre was developed by Michael E. Comerford, owner of the Comerford Theaters Inc. Comerford was also a founder of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America and a director of the Scranton Chamber of Commerce. At the height of its success, the Comerford Theaters Inc. owned and operated over 80 movie theaters in

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Carbon ...

and

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. Following the success of a Comerford Theater in

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

, the company began construction of a new theater in Wilkes-Barre. Construction began in 1937 with the assistance of the Penn-York Utilities, Inc. and designed by Charles A. Ryan. It opened August 18, 1938, with a showing of ''

Alexander's Ragtime Band "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a Tin Pan Alley song by American composer Irving Berlin released in 1911 and is often inaccurately cited as his first global hit. Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little synco ...

''. At the time, the theatre could seat 2,047 patrons. As a result of the 1949 antitrust laws, ownership of the theater was transferred to the Penn Paramount Company. Closing briefly for repairs, the theatre reopened on September 2, 1949, as the Paramount Theatre. Operations continued until the early 1970s. Attendance dropped after the venue was flooded due to

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

. The theatre ceased operations in 1977 after the property was sold to a new owner. The theatre saw occasional use as a concert and boxing venue. Local businesses formed a group known as "Save the Old Paramount" (or S.T.O.P.). A few years later, the building was added to the

. Throughout a majority of the 80s, the venue was mostly vacant as it was desperate need of repairs. In 1985,

Albert Boscov Albert Boscov (September 22, 1929 – February 10, 2017) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the long-time head of Boscov's Department Stores and served as the company's chairman and CEO until retiring in 2015. In 2009, Boscov ...

, August L. Simms and Fred M. Kirby II raised $3.3 million to restored the theatre. Construction began on December 21, 1985. It opened September 19, 1986, as the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, after

Fred Morgan Kirby Fred Morgan Kirby (1861-1940) from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania was the founder of the F. M. Kirby & Co. 5 & 10-cent Store chain, and a philanthropist. Kirby’s company was a major rival of the much larger F. W. Woolworth & Co. and the two businesses ...

References

External links

F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on Cinema Treasures
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 1938 establishments in Pennsylvania Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Theatres completed in 1937 Streamline Moderne architecture in the United States Art Deco architecture in Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Music venues in Pennsylvania Performing arts in Pennsylvania