Vancouver’s Park Theatre on Cambie to close at the end of this week (Oct 26th)

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Glow Fun City

Well there we go! Nice to see things happening quickly…

Park Theatre taken over by team behind Vancouver's Rio Theatre and others

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local...-stranger-things-anora-director-11403280

Great news!

[giallo]

Fantastic news. The Rio is an amazing theatre. From top to bottom, it's one of the best places to watch weird, wonderful and retro cinema.

The Park will have a long and fruitful life with the people behind The Rio at the helm.

[Glow Fun City]

Originally Posted by giallo

Fantastic news. The Rio is an amazing theatre. From top to bottom, it's one of the best places to watch weird, wonderful and retro cinema.

The Park will have a long and fruitful life with the people behind The Rio at the helm.

I wonder if it will be a mix of live events like the Rio or just focus on cinema for now? I think we'll see a liquor license application either way…

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Glow Fun City

I wonder if it will be a mix of live events like the Rio or just focus on cinema for now? I think we'll see a liquor license application either way…

It might be less convenient to add live events. The Rio was built with a green room, so has some backstage facilities, but the Park opened as a cinema (one of the first four Odeon theatres in Canada, all in Vancouver, where the chain was founded).

[whatnext]

How refreshing to find a landlord in Vancouver whose sole goal isn't to sell their property for nondescript condos!

The show will go on: Big names in movie industry assemble to take over Vancouver's Park Theatre
Corinne Lea, CEO of the Rio Theatre, said her team looks forward to "bringing the same fun, energy and passion to a new location" with the Park Theatre in Cambie Village.
Author of the article: By Dan Fumano
Published Oct 27, 2025

...There is no change to the ownership of the real estate. Property records show the Park Theatre site and adjacent storefronts are owned by two Canadian corporations, Acorn Heritage Holdings and 886622 Ontario Ltd. In an emailed statement Monday, the landlord said: “Having owned the Park Theatre for over 40 years, we recognize its significance as an essential part of the Vancouver cultural scene and the backbone of Cambie Village. We are proud to be custodians of that legacy and to see it continue to play a key role in the city.”

Kat Eagleson, whose firm Eagleson Properties provides property management and commercial leasing services for the Park, said more than half of her team lives within walking distance of the theatre...

... The Park’s new operators have already secured another 70-millimetre projector to replace the one Cineplex is removing, Lea said, and they plan to also install a new laser projector...

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bc-movie-industry-players-take-over-park-theatre-vancouver

[RedArbutus]

Woah! Replacing the 70mm projector is big. How cool. Props to that commercial landlord too.

[Glow Fun City]

Originally Posted by RedArbutus

Woah! Replacing the 70mm projector is big. How cool. Props to that commercial landlord too.

A supportive landlord makes all the difference! Too many venues, even successful ones, have closed due to property owners wanting to cash out or redevelop.


70mm might not have been too hard to find with so many theatres going all-digital these days… great to hear, though!

[whatnext]

As an aside, I was reading about travel writer Rick Steves purchase of an old single screen movie theatre in his hometown of Edmonds. WA. He wants to continue showing movies there. What I thought was wild is the stat that there are only 54 remaining single screen movie theatres left in the entire USA! We have three in Vancouver alone.

[Glow Fun City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

As an aside, I was reading about travel writer Rick Steves purchase of an old single screen movie theatre in his hometown of Edmonds. WA. He wants to continue showing movies there. What I thought was wild is the stat that there are only 54 remaining single screen movie theatres left in the entire USA! We have three in Vancouver alone.

Four!

Rio
Park
Pacific Cinematheque
Dunbar

Plus three more that kind of count but maybe not:

VIFF Vancity Theatre (has a second lobby/studio screen now, but mostly just the main one)
Hollywood Theatre (multi-use but fewer movies than the Rio)
Normand Bouchard “Norm” Theatre (UBC)

[RedArbutus]

Originally Posted by whatnext

As an aside, I was reading about travel writer Rick Steves purchase of an old single screen movie theatre in his hometown of Edmonds. WA. He wants to continue showing movies there. What I thought was wild is the stat that there are only 54 remaining single screen movie theatres left in the entire USA! We have three in Vancouver alone.

54!!! What! That's mindboggling. There are 300+ million people in that country. There's not enough small towns with historic single screen theatres from a bygone era still chugging along?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Glow Fun City

Four!

Rio
Park
Pacific Cinematheque
Dunbar

Plus three more that kind of count but maybe not:

VIFF Vancity Theatre (has a second lobby/studio screen now, but mostly just the main one)
Hollywood Theatre (multi-use but fewer movies than the Rio)
Normand Bouchard “Norm” Theatre (UBC)

Oops, you’re right. Even if we just count the first four, it’s a lot.