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 (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

- Moderne style

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

located at

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

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'), ( Persian: Chogha Zanbilچغازنجبیل) is a type of massive ...

composition, a central tower, corrugated steel decoration, and a

marquee Marquee may refer to: * Marquee (overhang), a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building * Marquee (structure), a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel, theater, casino, train station, or similar building. * Pole 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 or Nepa) is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton (the area's largest city), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Ha ...

and

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. Following the success of a Comerford Theater in

Scranton Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, 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; it 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 sync ...

''. 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 was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, 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, ...

. 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 bus ...

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 Art Deco cinemas and movie theaters Tourist attractions in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Music venues in Pennsylvania Performing arts in Pennsylvania