{"nrhp_refnum":"76002072","name":"Paramount Theatre","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"713 Congress Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.269185994000054,"lon":-97.74176255199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-06-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story-equivalent brick theatre at 713 Congress Avenue in Austin, Travis County, Texas, completed in 1915 to designs by John Eberson, John Reed Fugard and George Arnold Knapp of Chicago.","why_significant":"It is one of Austin's early twentieth-century opera houses and played a major role in the development of the theatre arts in the city. It is also described as one of the city's finest examples of Neo-Classic Revival commercial architecture. It remains largely intact despite alterations and is the city's strongest effort to re-establish a performing arts center.","narrative":"Built in 1915 at 713 Congress Avenue in Austin, this brick theatre was designed by the Chicago firm of John Eberson, John Reed Fugard and George Arnold Knapp, with local architect George Albert Endress supervising construction. Ernest Nalle dedicated it to his father, former mayor Joseph Nalle, and it opened on October 11, 1915 to host vaudeville, musicals, legitimate theatre and motion pictures. The west facade is Neo-Classic Revival, with russet brick, three large windows, limestone detailing and a green-tiled parapet. Inside, a classical proscenium, relief plasterwork, frescoes and an early painted stage curtain survive. Karl Hoblitzelle acquired it around 1930, when it became the Paramount Theatre. Renovations in 1930 and 1957-58 removed box seats, the pipe organ, the ticket booth and the lobby fountain. Performers over the years included Helen Hayes, the Barrymores and the Metropolitan Opera. By 1960 it mostly showed films, and in 1975 a group began reviving it as a performing arts center.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John Eberson, John R. Fugard, & George A. Knapp (architects); J.F. Johnson (contractor); George Albert Endress (supervising architect)","architectural_style":"Neo-Classic Revival (data sheet: Eclectic, Neo-Classical Revival, Beaux-Arts elements)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as structurally sound and in good condition; occupied and used as a theatre and performing arts center at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.393778-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/9737/40973777/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/76002072.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002072/5065376407-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002072/5065376407-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paramount_austin_2006.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paramount_austin_2006.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"75002132","name":"Sixth Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/sixth-street-historic-district-75002132/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973777","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Theatre_(Austin,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7756086"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/paramount-theatre-76002072/"}