F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts

71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, US

The building at 71 Public Square opened August 18, 1938 as the Comerford Theater, the flagship movie palace of the M.E. Comerford chain an Art Deco showpiece with five ornate lobbies, a striking cylindrical "Giant Lavaliere" chandelier that still hangs today, and near-2,000-seat capacity that made it the largest theater in the region at the time. A 1949 antitrust settlement handed it over to become the Paramount Theater, and it survived a genuine trial by water in 1972, when Hurricane Agnes buried it under 14 feet of floodwater. The rise of shopping malls finished what the flood started, and the theater closed in 1977, was gutted for small businesses, and nearly demolished before local preservationists organized as "Save the Old Paramount" got it onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It sat dormant until 1985, when Wilkes-Barre department store owner Albert Boscov led a $3.3 million community restoration campaign, with a naming gift from Fred M. Kirby II in honor of his father, the 5-and-10-cent store pioneer. The F.M. Kirby Center reopened September 19, 1986, and has run as a nonprofit performing arts center ever since, hosting everyone from Johnny Cash and Aretha Franklin to Jerry Seinfeld and touring Broadway productions. Today it seats 1,832 across orchestra, mezzanine, and balcony levels, still dressed in its restored maroon, rose, and gold Art Deco finish. Bags under 12"x6"x12" are allowed and subject to search. No dedicated lot, but a 752-space public garage on South Washington Street is just steps away, with flat-rate $5 event parking on show nights, plus metered street parking downtown.

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