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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Majin" data-source="post: 2841268" data-attributes="member: 13265">~ Gabriel ~Gabriel has luck searching through the library's vast collection of newspaper clippings on their electronic microfiche database and the internet, finding the following information:The original builder of the Paradise was Robert Allen, a wealthy man who developed and owned much of the neighborhood at the time. Built in 1928, the Paradise Theater was a showplace for stage acts, the finest venue in town. It seated 350 people, and the walls were a glorious riot of bas-relief and gilt. When the attractions of vaudeville began to fade in favor of those of the silver screen, the Allens decided to convert the Paradise into a movie theater. From 1928 on, the Paradise showed film after film for generations of entertainment-hungry citizens. The Paradise closed in 1974. The costs of renovating the aging structure and the single yellowing screen conspired to make it unprofitable. Already in considerable disrepair, the ensuing years of neglect left the Paradise in ruins. The theater's one-hundreth anniversary came and went with little fanfare besides a maudlin editorial in the local paper a few years back. But a year ago, hope emerged; A local arts group bought the theater from the Allen Foundation and began a slow process of volunteer renovation and improvement, in the hopes of restoring the Paradise to its former glory as a home to performing arts and cinema. That new hope is close to realization, as the theater reopens in just a few days.The Allen Foundation itself was founded by Robert Allen's children and grandchildren in 1953 to manage the family's substantial assets and donate money to various charity groups, primarily childcare-related. The last member of the Allen family was Jessica Allen, who died in 1983 at the age of seventy-two. No living heirs exist. The Paradise is now owned by Metro Arts, a nonprofit group that produces performances, art exhibitions, and film events. The group has a full-time staff of six and hundreds of donating members and supporters. Although it appears to have a small office, the Paradise is the group's first permanent event and exhibit space. The head of Metro Arts since 1981, is Sara Landry. Funding for the Metro Arts and the Paradise Theater was provided by a Richard Jacobs, a local philanthropist.Gabriel finds a recent news article on the internet about a Mary Green, an art student and frequent volunteer at the Paradise, who was recently injured in an accident there. According to published reports, she was painting a ceiling in the main theater space one evening and fell from the scaffolding. She broke her left leg, arm and pelvic bone, and suffered a mild concussion. Metro's insurance is covering her care, and she is in stable condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital. However, she is said to be undergoing psychological evaluation, possibly related to the concussion. An unnamed friend told the local paper, "Mary says the Paradise is haunted or something." Her family -- both parents are her brother -- have declined comment and refused media requests for interviews with Mary. According to the paper this isn't the first time for a ghost sighting. Harry Samson, a janitor at the Paradise from 1952-1974, told the reporter, "I used to hear strange things there all the time, like something moving around in the walls and floors. The Allens always said it was rats. Musta been some big rats."Gabriel manages to find one more piece of information about the Paradise, almost missing it buried within the microfiche data. It seems that the Paradise used to house a speakeasy in its basement back in the day. It was a private key club, meaning that members had to have a key to get in. The bar was known as the Sound and Light Club, and it ran for most of the 1930s. In 1936 police raided the club on suspicion of kidnapping. A man named Arnold Langtree, the guest of a club member, told police he met a woman at the club and they hit it off. After a few drinks, she began telling him that the club had "private parties" sometimes, and invited him to accompany her to one. Then two doormen escorted her into another room behind the bar. When Langtree questioned them a few minutes later, they denied ever seeing the woman, whose name he did not know. The police raid found nothing, and apparetnly the club was back in business a few weeks later. Arnold Langtree died a month later, the victim of a hit-and-run driver.</blockquote>

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