A movie palace that once seated thousands along the Grand Concourse is getting ready to fill its seats again. The Loew's Paradise Theatre, closed to the public since 2023, is being transformed into the Paradise Performing Arts Center, a nonprofit that organizers say will bring concerts, comedy, dance, film and educational programming back to a Bronx landmark that has sat largely dormant for decades.
According to Bronx Times, the theater is set to host a community welcome event on November 10, 2026, featuring self-guided tours of the venue along with food and beverages provided by local Bronx businesses. The center's own website, paradisepac.org, states the venue will reopen in November 2026.
A Wonder Theatre's Long, Winding History
Loew's Paradise opened on September 7, 1929, as a movie palace, per the center's about page. It was one of five Loew's Wonder Theatres built across the metropolitan New York City area, a distinction that placed it among the grandest movie houses of its era. The theater closed in 1994, and per Bronx Times reporting it was later utilized as an event venue and a church before reopening as a live event venue on October 29, 2005, hosting concerts and community gatherings. The theater became vacant again in 2023, the same source notes.
The building's architectural pedigree is formally recognized: Bronx Times reports that the theater's exterior was designated a New York City landmark in 1997, and its lobbies and auditorium interior were recognized as a city landmark in 2006. With roughly 4,000 seats, per Bronx Times, the venue is described by the Paradise Performing Arts Center as the second-largest theater in New York City after Radio City Music Hall.
New Leadership, A Mission Rooted in Access
The nonprofit's mission, as stated on its website, is to present a range of artistic voices that mirror the community and expand access to the arts. A new management team is steering the project, according to Bronx Times, with Scott Perrin serving as executive director. Perrin's past credits include producing Our Sinatra and involvement with A Grand Night for Singing, per the same report.
Peter Martin and Charles Piazza are both named as managing director of the Paradise Performing Arts Center, according to Bronx Times reporting. Martin, who is also co-owner of the Triad Theater, produced Celebrity Autobiography, the outlet notes.
Filling a Gap in the Bronx Arts Scene
Perrin framed the project as addressing a longstanding imbalance in the city's cultural infrastructure, telling Bronx Times that every borough of New York City has major performing arts centers except the Bronx. He said the theater was reimagined to expand access to the arts in an arts-underserved neighborhood, and that the center will impact young people in the Bronx by giving them access to arts and culture in their own neighborhood.
“It's going to take a village to bring this goal to fruition,” Perrin said, according to Bronx Times. The center says it is in talks with individuals, philanthropic supporters, corporate sponsors and elected officials as it works to develop a sustainable model for future programming, per paradisepac.org.
What's on the Bill
Organizers describe an eclectic slate for the venue once it opens. Planned programming includes live concerts, stand-up comedy, family shows, dance performances, film screenings and educational events, according to the center's website.
Beyond the marquee, the center says its local impact will extend into the neighborhood itself — from cultivating and presenting local talent to featuring local concessions, generating employment and facilitating arts education, according to paradisepac.org. For a stretch of the Grand Concourse that has watched one of its grandest buildings sit empty, the promise is a return not just of shows, but of foot traffic, jobs and a reason to look up at the marquee again.
