The Paramount LA Launches Its 100 Year Celebration With Copa America Viewing Party in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2024 (Newswire.com) - The Paramount Ballroom is celebrating its 100th year in Boyle Heights. An elegant Renaissance revival structure built in 1924–the building is a thriving example of L.A.’s textured, layered history. From its origins as a place of organization and unionization to its Eastside legacy as a performing arts destination, The Paramount embodies the layers of Boyle Heights/East L.A.’s cultural heritage: a place where social justice, cultural influence, and the arts collide.
The Paramount is kicking off its 100 year celebration with several live music, community and cultural events and a free community watch party of the Copa America 2024 Final between Colombia & Argentina this Sunday July 14, 2024 from 4pm to 9pm.
First opened on what was then Brooklyn Avenue, the building was initially operated by the Jewish baker’s union of Los Angeles and the Jewish subdistrict of the Communist Party. It was a touchstone of cultural commerce and community organizing during the height of the Jewish population in East Los Angeles. A few decades later, the Paramount became a premier ballroom venue and educational center run by Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth’s father, Eduardo Cansino. This ushered in the era of a midcentury focus on live music, dance, and the atmosphere of a cafe society within the Paramount. Throughout the 1980s, the venue became the backdrop for punk music and the new wave Eastside sound.
In 2011, a thorough restoration and revival of the space as a cultural convergence point began, spearheaded by owner Frank Acevedo. He was also interested in the Paramount’s unique history as a political, cultural, and musical hot spot within the Boyle Heights neighborhood of east Los Angeles.
Upstairs in the Paramount venue, the 1920s influence and architecture were preserved and embellished. The stage and bar were revived with a design that honored the building’s history. There was specialized design and care put into maintaining the historic elements of the building.
The current version of the Paramount building operates a music venue, radio station, nonprofit, and restaurant to benefit the surrounding community and the greater community of Southern California through programming and education. The Paramount is not the end-all-be-all but merely a page in the building’s larger story as a setting for so many different cultural exchanges of ideals shared by Angelenos throughout the city’s history.
Source: Paramount Brooklyn, LLC
