Paramount Center for the Arts

The nonprofit Paramount Center for the Arts operates as a year-round multidisciplinary center for the arts, with live performances, arts-in-education programs, films, and visual art exhibitions, serving over 63,000 people annually from throughout the mid-Hudson Valley Region.

Originally built as a 1500-seat movie palace by Publix Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, the Peekskill Paramount Theatre first opened its doors to the public wtih great fanfare on June 27, 1930. The Inaugural program featured an overture by the Paramount Symphony Orchestra, an appearance by the village mayor, and “A Paramount All-Talking Picture”, The Big Pond, starring Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert.
The Paramount has recently completed a series of major renovation and historic restoration projects over the past three years. This work has included the following: repairing and replastering the walls and ceiling; recreating the original 1930s ceiling design on hand-painted canvases and installing them on the ceiling; completing the decorative painting of the theatre walls and balcony, faux opera boxes, stage proscenium, and towering plaster columns; installing new carpeting throughout the theatre and lobby areas; refurbishing our classic vintage theatre seats, and, most recently, the complete renovation of our restrooms.