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Former Pararmount Pictures Film Exchange from Miltenberger Street, Pittsburgh, PA 6-23-09
Author: Dan Holland (youngpreservationist)
Tags:
building,
exchange,
film,
pictures,
paramount,
uptown,
fofs,
neighborhood
Size: 1.11 gigapixels
Added: June 24, 2009
Total Views: 1071
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Paramount Pictures Film Exchange Building, 1727 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.
Designed by R.E. Hall Co. Architects of New York City in 1926, the building meets the Historic Review Commission’s criteria for its association with important cultural or social aspects or events in the history of the City of Pittsburgh, the State of Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic region, or the United States.
Endorsed by five City Councilpeople and the Uptown Community Partners, more than 50 support letters have been sent, including from WQED-TV and Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
The Paramount Pictures Film Exchange building stands as a proud symbol of Pittsburgh’s position as the birthplace of motion picture distribution and exhibition. Harry Davis and John Harris developed the first "Nickelodeon" theater on Smithfield Street, Downtown, the first theater to show movies as a mainstay. Pittsburgh quickly became a national center for the film industry. For instance, Warner Brothers Pictures began in Pittsburgh.
As feature films replaced the short Nickelodeon movies, the industry continued to thrive in Pittsburgh. Major motion picture companies opened up film exchanges in cities across America, which would negotiate with film studios for the rights to a completed film production, and would distribute the product to movie theaters. Nearly every city had film exchange buildings to house the films that were being distributed to local theaters. Pittsburgh supported numerous film exchange buildings, primarily in the Soho/Uptown neighborhood, along Boulevard of the Allies in what was known as “Film Row.” However, only one building from this era remains today, the Paramount Pictures Film Exchange, a prime example of a once thriving world-wide industry for motion pictures.
Three film exchange buildings in Chicago, Detroit, and Oklahoma City have been preserved and reused. YPA makes a strong case that Pittsburgh’s own Paramount Pictures Film Exchange Building can also be preserved and reused as a viable generator of economic vitality for the city.
YPA featured this building at its Preserve Pittsburgh Summit on March 28, 2009, when YPA and PA State Senator Jim Ferlo announced the winners of its preservation video contest A student at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Drew Edward Levinson, won first prize for his video about the Paramount Pictures Film Exchange.
Watch the YouTube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jomyGMIiHTM&feature=channel_pagef mt
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