I'll first point out I'm not of the strictly "keep it geared" mindset. This isn't a bike that's inherently more wonderful geared. The components are meh, and the bike looks like it would ride well as a conversion.

The main reason I'd suggest against converting and repainting it is you could probably come out way ahead by flipping it as-is. Paramounts have a silly amount of name cachet that spills over to not-so-mind-blowing bikes like this one. For that reason alone, if it were mine, I'd cash in and flip it for a healthy profit to put towards a complete singlespeed or a different conversion candidate.