Paramount Northwest Theatre

Name used from May 30, 1971 to February 8, 1993 for the 2,807-seat performing arts theater, and venue located at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in Seattle, Washington, USA. The theater originally opened March 1, 1928 as the Seattle Theatre. On March 14, 1930, after only two years in business, its name was changed to the Paramount Theatre. On May 30, 1971, the theater reopened as Paramount Northwest Theatre. Ida Cole, a former Microsoft executive, purchased the Paramount Theatre on February 8, 1993 and embarked on a $37M renovation of the venue; it reopened as The Paramount Theatre on March 16, 1995. In 1972, the Seattle-based partnership Paramount Northwest was formed. It leased the Paramount Theatre, Portland for three years, with an option for six more, but in 1975 owner John Haviland won a court case to prevent Paramount Northwest from renewing their lease option. The Paramount Northwest group got the idea to call the Paramount Theatre in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA the "Paramount Northwest", although the Portland theater never officially was named as such. Advertisements for both of these theatres gradually began to phase out the inclusion of "Northwest" in the title, and by the early 1980s, the moniker had been dropped altogether. Some posters make it hard for non-residents to tell the difference between Portland and Seattle posters for the "same" venue title. Once you know the names of the ticket outlets, however, it becomes easy to tell the difference. For example, Meier and Frank would be a Portland, OR ticket outlet. Fidelity Lane would be a Seattle, WA ticket outlet. Also credited as: - Paramount Northwest Theater