Thank you ns_kid! That is great information, and actually makes it seem like more of a loss than originally thought.
It's funny, I grew up just at the end of the elegant theatres, so didn't really get to experience them to any great extent. Most of my movie experience was in the functional but austere Famous Players type theatres, which were fine for viewing movies, but the feeling wasn't quite the same. It was get in, watch the movie, and get out - not an event, but more of a process.
Last year I attended an event in Saint John's Imperial Theatre, which somehow had managed to survive and was eventually restored to it's previous glory. I swear I spent as much time admiring the theatre as I did watching the act. It's beautiful.
https://imperialtheatre.ca/faq/history/