[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

RIP:

Avon (195 Ottawa N) closed 1987
Broadway (251 King William) closed 1997
Centre Mall 8 (1145 Barton) closed 2001
Century (12 Mary ) closed 1988
Hyland (190 King E) closed 1985
Main West 2 (1605 Main) closed 1985
Odeon (156 King E) closed 1991
Playhouse (177 Sherman) closed 1985
Reo (170 Parkdale) closed 1985
Tivoli (110 James N) closed 1989
Towne (760 Barton) closed 1980
York (164 York) closed 1985

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Found this posted by TivFan elsewhere on the net

TivFan on April 29, 2012 at 10:26 am
This theater was not called York Cinema. Just York. The York Theatre. “The 448-seat theater closed in 1985.” This is incorrect. The theater opened in l940, and had 400 seats. The site of the York (the north side, near Hess) is now the playing/football field of Sir John A. MacDonald School. The school opened in 1970. The Google street view is wrong. It shows York Road in Dundas. York Street was renamed York Boulevard.

TivFan on April 29, 2012 at 10:44 am
The theater opened in l940, as the York. So the “China Cinema in 1945” is incorrect. If a Chinatown area existed on York Street, I do not recall this. I think the York closed in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s (a victim of television, I’m assuming). I will have to do some research on this theater. There is not a lot written about it. I have only seen one picture of this place. I don’t know how long the building existed after it closed as a theater.

TivFan on April 29, 2012 at 11:16 am
The 2004 comment by mrcinema is incorrect. The York on York Street was closed and/or demolished by the late l960’s. The Mountain Theatre on Concession Street was renamed the York in the early 1980’s. It was named the York when it closed c.1985. It was vacant, for a time, then used as retail (used sports equipment) before a started conversion to medical offices was abandoned. Later it was called The Movie Palace…

Found this on wiki when looking up the Palace theatre

The Pantages Theatre opened up in 1921 on King Street, (between Catharine Street and Mary Street), with a seating capacity of 3,500 made it the largest theatre in Canada at the time. In 1930 it was renamed The Palace Theatre. It closed down in 1972. Hamilton one time was home to many Grand Theatres, all of which are no longer in existence. These include, Grand Opera House (James Street North), Savoy Theatre (Merrick Street), Temple Theatre (behind the Terminal Building on King Street), Lyric Theatre (Mary Street) and The Loews Theatre renamed later to The Capitol (King Street East).[4]

And when Googling the Capitol, I found this about the Tivoli and Capitol

The front building, now a gaping hole, was once a carriage factory. In 1875 the factory was built to satisfy transportation needs for a booming industrial city called Hamilton. This would last for only 6 years, closing up in 1881 as the need increased... with other local carriage factories.

The building remained empty until 1907 when a new community started to rise… the theatre community. The factory was converted to a small store theatre, with about 200 seats, that would show live vaudeville acts. Over 16 years as a live theatre, the building changed names three times, from the Wonderland, to the Colonial, and finally The Princess.

The third time wasn’t the charm. Many exclaimed “Vaudeville’s dead!” and the moving picture was the future. This began the time of the single movie-houses.

They opened all over the city, making Hamilton a forward thinking, or ambitious place. This included the impressive Capital Theatre{linktoDTGW} on King Street (at the corner of John Street).

The Capital was very popular with many silent films starring Charlie Chaplin, news reels and even cartoons. All 2,000 seats would be regularly filled, showing a need for more movie centres in the city.

In 1924, the Tivoli Theatre was built and opened by Andrew Ross. An interesting coincidence is that Mr. Ross owned a carriage factory on King Street (now the Denningers building). A ghost sign was recently found when an abandoned building was removed. It showed “Andrew Ross Carriage and Wagon Builder”, with Coca-Cola (for only $0.05 a bottle) below it.

The old carriage factory was converted into an impressive lobby and a new auditorium was built behind it. It was built to impress and compete with the Capital, the city’s crown theatre jewel at the time.

http://www.hauntedhamilton.com/62_ar...theatre_1.html

Capitol , 103 King St. E., 1917- 1971