[thistleclub]

Tivoli shall rise again, says ballet
(Hamilton Spectator, Gary Smith, Dec 26 2012)

The last of Hamilton’s old vaudeville houses, the Tivoli, sitting now like some faded relic of another age, may soon have a spectacular facelift.

“I can’t say who is footing the bill until the ‘T’s are crossed and the ‘I’s are dotted, but this is going forward, no doubt,” says Belma Diamante, CEO of Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble who presently own the building.

“There will be condos behind, a commercial shopping centre in front and the theatre will remain at the heart and soul of the whole business,” she says.

“We’ve had a couple of offers recently but none of those would guarantee the theatre would operate according to our wishes plus they wanted to buy the place for a song. This one is an iron clad deal that allows us to restore and use the theatre portion of the development as a centre for the arts in Hamilton.”

Diamante, speaking on a guarantee of anonymity for the buyer until due diligence is completed at the end of January says, “It’s a sweet deal that will be good for everyone.”

Diamante rescued the building from the wrecker’s ball purchasing it for her CBYE dance company, from the Sniderman family, previous owners, for $2. Since then her organization has spent considerable sums making necessary repairs to keep the building sustainable.

“It became obvious though that we could not raise the substantial amount of money to complete our plans for a theatre and commercial complex. “

“The developers who came forward recently had the wrong solutions as far as we were concerned. Now we are ready to move with a new player and a guarantee the theatre will survive.”

The Tivoli is the last of the old theatres that once graced Hamilton’s downtown; The Palace, Savoy, Grand Opera House and Lyric were more glamorous and more historically important.

“They should have been spared,” Diamante says, “But they were ripped down to make way for parking lots and strip malls. Very stupid.”

“The thing is,” she continues, “the Tivoli figures in many peoples’ memories. They went there on dates. They saw great movies there. Plus it’s all that’s left of these old movie palaces that could be turned into a real theatre.”

Diamante insists she will use her connections in the Hamilton arts world to make the Tivoli rise again. Her plan is for dance, music, drama and concerts of all types.

“Just think of a night of jazz at the Tivoli and then a walk on James Street past all the little galleries … It will help anchor the new James Street with the rest of the downtown.”

Diamante says she tried to get support at all levels but this sale that is taking place is the answer to the Tivoli problem.

“I won’t rest until the Tivoli has been restored and is up and running. I need to know I’ve finished what I started.

“I can tell you for me it’s a relief. I was tired of being bullied by all levels. When we bought the Tivoli in 2007 we saved the city a lot of money they would have spent demolishing the building. Now we will make it rise again. That’s a promise.”


Collapsed/redacted in June/July 2004. Restoration plans announced June 2006. Purchase finalized in Sept 2006. Construction originally anticipated to begin in late 2007.

Would be nice to see this one done right.