Paramount Film Exchange is a building at 1727

Boulevard of the Allies The Boulevard of the Allies is a mostly four-lane road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, connecting Downtown Pittsburgh with the Oakland neighborhood of the city. Because of its lengthy name, locals sometimes refer to it as simply "The Boulevard ...

in the Uptown or

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neighborhood of

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, designed in 1926 by R. E. Hall Co. architects from New York City. In 2010, the building was bought by arts-oriented local entrepreneurs who founded the Paramount Film Exchange (PFEX), Inc., to redevelop the then-abandoned building in a historically sensitive manner. In the words of film historian Max Alvarez, film exchanges were "agencies engaging in the practice of renting or trading motion pictures", which, in the early part of the 20th century, served as "full-service stores for theater owner/managers." Motion-picture studios owned exchanges and used them to screen their films for potential exhibitors in a local market. Once

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s came into use in the 1970s, it was no longer necessary to screen a film in a screening room, and film exchanges fell out of use. The Paramount Film Exchange, which belonged to

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, was one of several film exchange buildings in the area. The

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occupy the former location of the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

exchange at 1801 Boulevard of the Allies, and the auction and real-estate firm Harry Davis & Co. is located next door, at 1725 Boulevard of the Allies, in the building that once housed

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's exchange. The Paramount Film Exchange was the subject of a contentious battle over historic preservation in Pittsburgh, which is redeveloping many of the older neighborhoods in its urban core. Initial attention to the Paramount Film Exchange came in 2008, when 21-year-old Drew Levinson entered and won a video contest sponsored by the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh (YPA) with his short film on the Paramount Film Exchange. Levinson's video rallied support behind saving the Film Exchange from sale or demolition by then-owner

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and do ...

(UPMC). In 2009, YPA proposed the Paramount Film Exchange for official historical designation by the City of Pittsburgh. The Historic Review Commission of the City of Pittsburgh granted landmark designation in early 2010 based on "the importance of a particular place to Pittsburgh's heritage." The YPA attributed the site's historical significance to its status as the last remnant of Pittsburgh's "film row". UPMC and the Exchange's other large institutional neighbor,

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

, both opposed landmarking the building, while Rick Schweikert and his co-investors in PFEX, Inc. did not. The proposal moved to

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, which in a preliminary vote on Jan. 20, 2010, approved historic designation for the Exchange by an 8-1 margin.

Gallery

File:ParamountPicturesFilmExchangeDoor.jpg, The film exchange's elaborately decorated front door located at 1727

. File:ParamountPicturesFilmExchangeDoorCloserView.jpg, A closer view of the film exchange's front door.

References

External links

Paramount Film Exchange, Inc. Facebook page

Paramount Pictures Film Exchange (YouTube video)

Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh

Photo of the front door of the Paramount Film Exchange

Post-Gazette article on the Exchange
{{pittsburgh Buildings and structures in Pittsburgh Buildings and structures completed in 1926

Gallery

See also

References

External links