The Paramount Theatre Center and Ballroom of 1929 in Anderson, Indiana, has been restored with John Eberson atmospheric blue sky ceiling, hundreds of twinkling stars, wispy clouds overhead, Spanish courtyard. When the late afternoon lighting is dimmed, the entire theatre is transformed into a blue mid-summer's night. A.M. Strauss architect firm. Art Deco Style Paramount Ballroom. There are only 12 Eberson theaters left in the U.S. out of about 130 designed. This Parmount was saved from the wrecking ball in 1989 and reopened in 1995. The marquee was installed in the 1950s. The Page pipe organ was installed 1930 and is one of only 3 surviving Page movie theater organs in existence (with the Fort Wayne Embassy and the round theater on Cataline Island). Down the street in Anderson from the Paramount is the State from 1930 that is still showing movies. John Eberson was born in Romania in 1875, and studied at the University of Vienna in 1893. He emigrated to the United States in 1901, and learned to design theaters in St. Louis with the Johnston Realty and Construction Company. At the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 he discovered a method to precast ornaments with plaster and straw, and number each part for later assembly in a theater. His earliest conventional theater design was the Jewel in Hamilton, Ohio, in1909. He moved to Chicago in 1910 and drew on his European background to design theaters in Austin and Dallas with ornaments and elaborate ceilings. His first true "atmospheric" design was the Houston Majestic created for Karl Hoblitzelle and his Interstate Amusement Company theater chain of Dallas.
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