3 beautiful downtown theatres we don’t have anymore
- Dev Team
- 31 Oct 2014
Palace Theatre – 137 King Street East
Originally opened in the 1920s and The Pantages Theatre, it was renames the Palace Theatre in 1941. It had just over 2,200 seats and a capacity for 3,500 patrons, making it largest theatre in Canada at the time. It was closed in 1972, and demolished soon after.
Tivoli Theatre – 110 James Street North
The Tivoli was, in fact, a vaudeville theatre first opened in 1907 and went by many different names such as Wonderland, the Colonial and The Princess until it was eventually bought in 1924, and converted into a screen and stage theatre and called the Tivoli. It stayed that way for years.
In 2004, The south-facing wall of of the Tivoli collapsed in, which led to the need for the front end of the building to be demolished. The theatre in the back still stands, but is empty and currently unusable.
The Grand Opera Hotel stood right next to it on the immediate corner of James and Wilson, and was torn down in 1961.
The Tivoli is currently in development to be saved and include state of the art, stylish condos above.
Century Theatre – 12 Mary Street
The Century Theatre, originally called the Lyric Theatre was opening as a vaudeville theatre in 1913 and had 2000 seats. A year later it was playing those new cool things called movies.
The theatre was remodelled twice, in 1922 and again 1940 after which it was renames the Century Theatre. It was remodelled again in 1967 and bought by Famous Players in 1979.
It closed in 1989, but the facade with the lyric logo etched in stone was designated a heritage value under the ontario heritage act. They were playing Lethal Weapon 2 at the time of its closing. The city did nothing with the building until 2010 when it was demolished.
SOURCES:
http://cinematreasures.org/
http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/225?QUERYFORM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_events_in_Hamilton,_Ontario
https://www.raisethehammer.org/article/57/tivoli_redevelopment_options_review
http://www.ghostwalks.com/tivolitheatre-hauntedhamilton-article.htm
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