{"nrhp_refnum":"82001739","name":"Paramount Theater","other_names":["See Also:Abilene Commercial Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"352 Cypress St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Abilene","county":"Taylor County","state":"TX","lat":32.45225058500006,"lon":-99.73425811299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-12-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story reinforced concrete movie and stage theater at 352 Cypress Street in downtown Abilene, Taylor County, Texas, built in 1929 for philanthropist H. O. Wooten and designed by local architect David Castle.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the theater is an excellent Texas example of early 20th-century theater design, combining Spanish Colonial Revival, baroque and Art Deco elements, with an ornate interior. It also reflects H. O. Wooten's effort to turn Abilene from a cow town into a cultural center. It survived the Depression and has been a downtown landmark for over fifty years.","narrative":"Built in 1929 at 352 Cypress Street in downtown Abilene, this 1,200-seat theater was designed by local architect David Castle for grain merchant and civic leader H. O. Wooten. It opened in 1930 at a cost of $100,000 to show first-run films and stage shows. The reinforced concrete building measures 75 by 104 feet and is faced in brick and carved stone. Its east facade has polychrome terra cotta plaques, curved end gables and a triple blind arcade, while the interior mixes Spanish Colonial, baroque and Art Deco ornament, with Italian statues and paintings. The theater is attached to the Wooten Hotel, built by the same financier. Wooten intended it as a memorial to the city and a way to bring culture to a former cattle town. It was listed for its architecture as an intact West Texas movie palace of the 1920s. The Abilene Preservation League bought it in 1980 to prevent its destruction and plans to restore it as a performance center.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1929)","architect_builder":"David Castle","architectural_style":"Eclectic; Spanish Colonial Revival and baroque exterior with Spanish Colonial, classical Roman, baroque and Art Deco interior elements","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in entertainment use; condition listed as excellent but altered. Owned by a local preservation league, which plans to restore it as a performance center.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.220295-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/9735/40973570/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/82001739.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001739/e23e593c87-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001739/e23e593c87-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ParamountTheater1_(1_of_1).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ParamountTheater1_(1_of_1).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"91001811","name":"Abilene Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/abilene-commercial-historic-district-91001811/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973570","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Theatre_(Abilene,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15265388"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/taylor-county/paramount-theater-82001739/"}