Paul Wilson: Time ticks on for Tivoli. Future is fragile for theatre that brought talkies to town
The Tivoli still stands, but without a spotlight. Despite promises of a spectacular rebirth, it sits in the shadows. Silence reigns. The theatre is now on the city heritage committee’s red list — properties under “perceived immediate threat.”
https://www.thespec.com/living-story...lkies-to-town/
Sixty-five years ago today, Hamilton mayor Lloyd D. Jackson went to the movies.
It wasn't some Oscar contender at the Tivoli, James North on Aug. 20, 1954. It was "Just Living It Up," yet another comedy from Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
But it was a night to remember all the same. TV was slipping into living rooms everywhere, and the big movie houses had to up their game. To that end, the Tivoli had just finished spending what would be $2.5 million today to dress the place up.
To celebrate, the mayor did an official reopening and CKOC broadcast the ceremony.
The Tivoli still stands, but the spotlight does not shine there now. Despite promises of a spectacular rebirth, it sits in the shadows. Silence reigns. The theatre is now on the city heritage committee's red list — properties under "perceived immediate threat."
Investments at the Tivoli in that summer of '54 included 1,300 flashing lights on the marquee, auditorium walls covered in silk damask, the first pushback seats in the city.
It was among the top 10 of the 110 Famous Players theatres in the country — and had as much history as any of them.
On Feb. 1, 1926, the Tivoli brought talkies to town. Back then, only two other theatres in Canada had sound. Through the decades, Hamiltonians kept queuing out front. They often dressed up to do so. And why not? It was grand in there.
And it was big — more than 1,000 seats. But that became a liability. Multiplexes at the mall were taking over.
The end came Sept. 28, 1989. The show was "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." I was there, sharing that grand, ghostly space with 42 others. I counted. By the time we filed outside, someone had already put CLOSED on the marquee.
Sam "The Record Man" Sniderman then owned the place for a time. He was interested in the property next door for a record store and hadn't even been inside the Tivoli before the purchase.
When he did see the interior, he had this to say: "We were floored. It's a finer theatre than the Royal Alex. The chandeliers, the statues, the velvet. When you walk through that door, you walk into a fairyland."
After that, the Tivoli was used for concerts, religious services, live theatre, dance. But neglect exacted a hard price, and the city had to step in and tear down the lobby portion from James Street to the auditorium.
In 2013 Hamilton developer Domenic Diamante bought the Tivoli for about $900,000 from a charitable ballet ensemble run by his wife. He announced a plan to erect a 22-storey condo out front, right on James. He would fix the theatre and connect it to the new tower.
That kind of height was a big ask. But Jason Farr, councillor for the downtown ward, convinced the other politicians it made sense. And he brought them onside by adding a condition: no one would be moving into that condo tower before the theatre was completely restored.
Six years after that purchase, no sign of movement. A tattered banner announcing the Tivoli Condos hangs over the theatre.
Farr is deeply disappointed. That tall-tower approval doesn't expire, he says, and it is transferable. He wonders if someone else should now step up. "From time to time, you hear from movers and shakers who've accomplished things."
It takes a while, but we do make contact with Diamante, just south of Salt Lake City. He's on a bucket-list trip of the American Southwest. He's 75, and knows time's a wasting on the Tivoli. He knows people wonder.
He declares this project is not dead, just delayed. He says the soil has some contaminants and the cleanup plan from the province is taking a long time to arrive.
But that kind of challenge is not unheard of. Has Diamante built a tower before? No, he says, "but the men who went to the moon had not been there before … And we're working with people who know how to build a 22-storey tower."
Project completion — perhaps four years away.
The value of that land has surely increased. At this stage of the game, why not just sell?
Not happening, Diamante says, because "this is a legacy project for me. If someone gave me a ridiculous amount of money, maybe I could be tempted. But I have not been tempted yet."
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