Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

PARAMOUNT THEATRE SALVAGE

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

2007

Materials

CLOTH

No. Pieces

1

Height

1.6

Length

146.5

Width

91.2

Description

SWATCH OF CARPET, RED BACKGROUND WITH FILIGREE PATTERN IN BLACK, GREEN, OCHRE, AND TAN COLOURS. SEAM ALONG LENGTH OF CARPET. CARPET HEAVILY WORN IN TWO PLACES. LOOSE THREADS AROUND EDGES AND STAINED THROUGHOUT.

Subjects

FLOOR COVERING

Historical Association

BUSINESS

History

SWATCH OF CARPET REMOVED FROM STAIRWELL OF PARAMOUNT THEATRE AFTER ITS CLOSURE IN 2007. CARPET APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ORIGINAL TO THE BUILDING (SEE 19752201444 AND 19752201445 IN ARCHIVES FOR EARLY IMAGES OF THEATRE. PHOTOS TAKEN AT GRAND OPENING OF THEATRE). THE SAME PATTERN REMAINED IN USE IN THE THEATRE'S LOBBY UNTIL AT LEAST 1968 (SEE199110764140 IN ARCHIVES). NICOLE HEMBROFF, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT, CONDUCTED AN INTERVIEW WITH JOEY SHACKLEFORD (GRANDSON OF A.W. SHACKLEFORD) IN 2010 AND HE SAID THE RUG SAW A LOT OF TRAFFIC. THE SEAMS WOULD FALL APART AND GET FIXED UNTIL THEY COULDN'T BE FIXED ANYMORE. WHEN NEW CARPETS WERE PURCHASED THEY TRIED TO PICK OUT DARK PATTERNS THAT WERE SIMILAR TO THE OLD ONES. THEY WANTED THE RUGS TO WEAR WELL. ACCORDING TO SHACKLEFORD, THE LOBBY, BACK OF THE THEATRES AND AISLES WOULD HAVE BEEN CARPETED. IN JANUARY OF 1946, MAJESTIC THEATRES, OWNED BY A. W. SHACKLEFORD AND FAMOUS PLAYERS, PURCHASED A SITE AT THE CORNER OF EIGHTH STREET AND FOURTH AVENUE FOR THE FUTURE PARAMOUNT THEATRE. THE 950-SEAT PARAMOUNT THEATRE COST $250,000 TO CONSTRUCT AND OPENED ITS DOORS ON OCTOBER 9, 1950. DURING IT’S 61 YEAR HISTORY (IT CLOSED IN 2007), SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT AND THE SOUND OF MUSIC WERE THE TWO OF THE TOP SHOWS, GRACING SCREENS FOR 13 AND 11 WEEKS, RESPECTIVELY. EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVELY, IN 1997 AND 1998 "THE TITANIC" RAN FOP 24 WEEKS. ROBERT SHACKLEFORD, CAPITOL’S HOUSE MANAGER AND A. W. SHACKLEFORD’S YOUNGEST SON, SAID, “THE PARAMOUNT BECAME A LANDMARK IN THIS CITY… IT WAS CONSIDERED THE FINEST THEATRE OF ITS TIME, NOT JUST IN LETHBRIDGE, BUT ANYWHERE.” IN ADDITION TO THE THEATRE, THREE OTHER BUSINESSES WERE HOUSED IN THE PARAMOUNT’S BUILDING, ALL OPENING OCTOBER 4TH, 1950: DON’S FLOWER AND GIFT SHOP, MARGOT’S LADIES WEAR, AND BROWN’S MUSIC SUPPLIES. THE PARAMOUNT DINER OPENED ITS DOORS ON OCTOBER 9, 1950, AND CLOSED IN 2005. DOUGLAS SHACKLEFORD, A. W. SHACKLEFORD’S ELDEST SON, MANAGED PARAMOUNT THEATRE FOR ITS FIRST YEAR, WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE NEW PARAMOUNT THEATRE, DOUGLAS SHACKLEFORD RESPONDED, “[IT’S] THE BEST IN THE WEST.” IN 1951, THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE RECEIVED THE LARGE MERIT AWARD, THE HIGHEST HONOUR AWARDED BY THE MOTION PICTURE THEATRE INDUSTRY. AN ACCOMPANYING PLAQUE STATED, “SELECTED BY THE SKILLED TECHNICAL EDITORS OF EXHIBITOR AND THEATRE CATALOG TO RECEIVE THE “LARGE MERIT AWARD” INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION AS ONE OF THE MOST MODERN AND WELL APPOINTED OF ALL CURRENT THEATRES IN 1951.” THE THEATRE BOASTED STATE-OF-THE-ART SOUND AND PROJECTOR EQUIPMENT. THE PROJECTORS WERE THE FIRST OF THEIR KIND TO BE INSTALLED IN WESTERN CANADA. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH LETHBRIDGE HERALD IN OCT 1950, HARRY BOYSE, HEAD PROJECTIONIST, SAID, “THE PARAMOUNT’S PROJECTION SUITE IS ULTRA MODERN. IT IS EQUIPPED WITH THE LATEST PROJECTORS AND HAS SOUND EQUIPMENT THAT LEAVES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO BE DESIRED.” ANOTHER MODERN FEATURE OF THE THEATRE WAS THE ONE-WAY GLASS LOCATED BETWEEN THE MANAGER’S OFFICE AND THE AUDITORIUM AND FOYER. MANY DESIGN FEATURES OF THE PARAMOUNT STRESSED COMFORT. KROEHLER SLIDE-BACK CUSHIONED SEATS ALLOWED FOR CUSTOMERS TO REMAIN SEATED WHILE ALLOWING OTHERS TO PASS. LIGHTING SYSTEMS WERE DESIGNED TO GRADUALLY DECREASE AND INCREASE IN BRIGHTNESS SO THAT CUSTOMERS COULD ACCLIMATIZE. ADDITIONAL COMFORTS INCLUDE A WAITING LOUNGE, A WATER FOUNTAIN GUARANTEEING COLD WATER, A PRIVATE VIEWING ROOM FOR THOSE ON CALL, PRIVATE PARTIES, OR SMALL CHILDREN, AND A HEATING SYSTEM THAT EVENLY DISTRIBUTED HEAT. THROUGHOUT ITS OPERATIONS THE PARAMOUNT CINEMA UNDERWENT MANY RENOVATIONS AND FREQUENTLY UPDATED ITS TECHNOLOGY TO MEET MODERN STANDARDS. IN 1968, PARAMOUNT THEATRES ADDED A SECOND THEATRE, WHICH HELD 580 SEATS, MAKING IT THE FIRST MULTI-SCREEN THEATRE COMPLEX IN LETHBRIDGE. HENCEFORTH, IT WAS KNOWN AS PARAMOUNT CINEMA. IN 1985, SEAT WIDTH AND LEG ROOM WAS INCREASED, AND THE “CADILLAC” OF THEATRE SEATS WERE INSTALLED. IN 1988, 18 SURROUND SPEAKERS AND A DOLBY STEREO AMPLIFIER SYSTEM WERE INSTALLED. AT SOME POINT, THE PARAMOUNT RECEIVED A NEW CINEMASCOPE SCREEN. ACCORDING TO ROBERT SHACKLEFORD, THE GENERAL MANAGER OF LETHBRIDGE THEATRES LTD., “YOU RENOVATE OR STAGNATE… THAT’S BEEN MY POLICY ALL MY LIFE.” IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING ENTERTAINMENT, PARAMOUNT THEATRE SERVED THE COMMUNITY BY ALLOWING VARIOUS EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE INSIDE. IN JANUARY OF 1953, THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH BURNED DOWN, AND SUNDAY SERVICES WERE HELD AT THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE UNTIL A NEW CHURCH WAS BUILT. THE ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING HELD ITS GRADUATION CEREMONIES AT THE THEATRE DURING THE 1960S. THE PARAMOUNT HOSTED MANY CONCERTS, INCLUDING THE LETHBRIDGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND THE KIWANIS MUSIC FESTIVAL. AFTER UPDATING SCREEN TECHNOLOGY TO CINEMASCOPE, THE FRONT THREE ROWS WERE REMOVED. SHACKLEFORD SAID, “THAT’S WHEN WE DECIDED THE FRONT ROWS WERE TOO CLOSE FOR THE GIANT SCREEN AND WE EXPANDED THE STAGE TO ACCOMMODATE THE SYMPHONY…” IN 1978, THE SHACKLEFORD FAMILY ALONG WITH PARAMOUNT CINEMA HOSTED A WEEKEND-LONG EVENT TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF FILM. THEY SCREENED OLD CLASSIC FILMS, AND OFFERED TICKETS, POPCORN, ICE CREAM AND DRINKS FOR $0.50 AND $0.10, RESPECTIVELY, REFLECTIVE OF 1928 PRICES. FAMOUS PLAYERS BOUGHT OUT THE SHACKLEFORD FAMILY AROUND 1990. IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, THE PUBLIC COMPLAINED ABOUT DETERIORATING CONDITIONS OF THE THEATRE. SUCH COMPLAINTS WERE IGNORED BY FAMOUS PLAYERS. A LETTER IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD IN OCT 2004 ENCOURAGED THE PUBLIC TO WRITE TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS TO VOICE THEIR DISAPPROVAL FOR THE STATE OF THE PARAMOUNT. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE PERMANENT RECORD, DVD WALKTHROUGH AFTER CLOSURE AND ARCHIVES 19752201444, 19752201445, 199110764140. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, INCLUDING A PORTRAIT OF ALFRED WILLIAM SHACKLEFORD (P20060025001-GA), OWNER OF THE SHACKLEFORD THEATRES. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF MAYOR SHACKLEFORD WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM ARCHIVES CANADA ONLINE AND A LETHBRIDGE HERALD TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM MAY 31, 1992. A.W. SHACKLEFORD WAS BORN IN ESSEX, ENGLAND IN 1899 AND CAME TO CALGARY WITH HIS PARENTS IN 1909. AFTER HIGH SCHOOL HE TRAINED AS A DRAFTSMAN BUT WAS EMPLOYED BY THE FILM EXCHANGE AND FOX FILMS. IN 1921 HE WAS HIRED TO MANAGED THE KING'S THEATRE IN LETHBRIDGE AND BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH MARK ROGERS, A LETHBRIDGE BUSINESSMAN WHO OWNED THREE LOCAL MOVIE THEATRES. SHACKLEFORD ALSO BECAME PARTNER IN THE AMUSEMENT COMPANY THAT OPENED THE HENDERSON LAKE PAVILLION IN 1924. BY 1925 HE WAS PART-OWNER OF THE FORMER EMPRESS THEATRE ON 5TH AVENUE SOUTH, RENAMING IT THE ROXY. HE THEN TEAMED UP WITH THE FAMOUS PLAYERS COMPANY TO REMODEL THE FORMER PALACE THEATRE AND RENAME IT THE CAPITOL. SHACKLEFORD ALSO OPENED THE THEATRE IN THE FORMER COLLEGE MALL, BUILT THE 960-SEAT PARAMOUNT THEATRE ON 4TH AVENUE SOUTH, AND TOOK OVER OPERATION OF THE DIRVE-IN THEATRE AT THE SOUTH CITY LIMITS. SHACKLEFORD WAS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN CIVIC LIFE, ACTIVE IN GROUPS INCLUDING THE CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY, THE GYRO CLUB, UNITED WAY, LETHBRIDGE & DISTRICT EXHIBITION BOARD, BOARD OF TRADE, ST. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH, AND THE ALBERTA THEATRE OPERATORS ASSOCIATION. HE AND HIS WIFE ADA HAD TWO SONS, ROBERT AND DOUGLAS. AFTER SEVERAL TERMS AS ALDERMAN STARTING IN 1939, SHACKLEFORD FIRST SERVED AS MAYOR FROM 1944 - 1947, AND FOR TWO MORE TERMS FROM 1952 - 1955 AND 1957 - 1961. HE WORKED FOR 68 YEARS IN THE MOVIE BUSINESS, RETIRING AT AGE 90. W.A. SHACKLEFORD DIED IN LETHBRIDGE ON MAY 30, 1992. SEE PERMANENT FILE P20060025001 FOR HARDCOPIES OF SOURCE MATERIAL.

Catalogue Number

P20070023001

Acquisition Date

2008-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail