1501 Broadway - NYC, NY, USA - Satellite Imagery Oddities on Waymarking.com

"Completed in 1927, it once housed the Paramount Theatre. He was designated the Milestone of New York City in 1988.

History
Paramount Pictures, one of the leading American film companies in the 1920s, built its headquarters at Broadway 1501 along with a cinema theater. The construction lasted between 1926 and 1927, at a cost of 13.5 million dollars. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest building in Times Square, and once it wore an observation platform.

Paramount president Adolph Zukor had acquired a majority stake in the Chicago-based theater network Balaban and Katz, and with it the services of Sam Katz, who became the head of Paramount's theater division. Balaban and Katz had a long working relationship with the Chicago architecture studio Rapp and Rapp (C. W Rapp and George L. Rapp), who had designed numerous theaters for his company in the Midwest. Later they hired the firm to design its new theater and tower of emblematic offices in Manhattan. The Rapp brothers created a thirty-three-story office tower that was influenced by the art deco style, and a theater in the Renaissance palace style behind it.

In 1922, Paramount Pictures had bought the Putnam building. Construction of the building began in November 1925. The Paramount Theatre was inaugurated on November 19, 1926.

With the split of theater units in 1950 as United Paramount Theatre, Inc. (UPT), it became the headquarters of the UPT that is rented together with the Paramount Pictures theater. It continued to host American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres after the merger of UPT with ABC. The theater closed in 1964 under the property of the UPT only to be reopened later that year under a new property, while ABC moved to the ABC Building on 1330 Avenue of the Americas in 1965. The theater was dismantled in 1967.

Today it is known for its large four-sided clock near the top of the pyramidal architectural feature, with the hours indicated by twelve five-pointed stars (forming a circle of stars as used in the Paramount Pictures logo), crowned by an ornamental crystal balloon. At the beginning of World War II, the globe and clock were painted black to maintain blackout conditions for fear of an enemy invasion;they were restored in 1996.

Architecture
The ceilings were painted in the cool and gilded, while the railings were made of brass. There were Greek statues and busts carved in wall niches, while the bathrooms and waiting rooms had a grandiose style compared to the cathedrals of the time. The highlight of the decoration was a huge glass sling in the main lobby. The theater, with 3,664 seats, was located at the back of the building and served as the flagship place of the company where its main films would be released.

The entrance to the theater on the front of the Paramount is marked by a five-story arch on Broadway with an elaborate curved marquee, which was restored in 2007. From there, a long gallery passed through the office building to reach the theater itself, which occupied the back of the building that extends in the middle of the block between 43rd and 44th streets. This structure included a large long lobby along the southern end that opened to the auditorium in front of a stage at the northern end.

The lobby was inspired by the Paris Opera House with white marble columns, balustrades and a large staircase with open arms. Inside the auditorium, the curtains were colored in red velvet and the carpets were designed in a similar red. The interior was very high but somewhat shallow as required by the allocated space. In addition, you could go up and down a large orchestra pit from the basement for theatrical use.

Explosion of 2008
On the morning of March 6, 2008, an unknown individual placed a small bomb in front of a United States Armed Forces recruitment station on the other side of the building on Seventh Avenue. There were no injuries. A security camera installed in the building played a role in identifying the aggressor."

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Date Logged Log   12/31/2023 eilers1 visited it