Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Charlatan
Speaking of theatres... the Festival Cinema chain is closing down as of June 30th.
The Royal is for sale -- 2.7 million -- I predict it will be a club or a mall before too long.
The Paradise, the Revue and the Kingsway are all closing and the Fox will stay open.
It is really too bad that the single screen cinema business is dead. I would love to run one of these cinemas...
I'd love to see the Royal or the Revue turned into restaurant/bar combo where you can also go and see films.
Sadly, the architecture is most likely to be lost for good.
|
I have been to the the Kingsway and the Revue on Roncesvalles. It's really sad that there is no hope. You go to the theatre on the Queensway, or on John Street and they are packed. Mind you, the movies they play for the most part are crap.
Yes, Toronto is sad when it comes to preserving its architecture or even more worriesom, our neighbourhoods. At Jane and Bloor where I live, there is the old Humber Odeon that has been closed for 3 years or more. They had just done a complete reno on the place and then they shut it down a few months later. Prior to that, the Runnymede at Bloor and Runnymede was shut down. Thankfully in that case, they preserved the building and turned it into a Chapters. Thank God.
In the case of the Humber Odeon, the entire building was gutted of all the new seats and everything was thrown out. Odeon didn't want anyone turning it into a rep theatre.
Of course, you know what comes next. The sleeze ball developers move in and buy the property and propose putting up a 13 story box, aka, a new "condo"
The zoning of the neighbourhood only allowed for 5 stories, but of course, they applied for a variance. They ended up reducing the height to 10 stories, but it's still a box.
I figure it's only a matter of time before the developers buy up all the quaint shops on Bloor West from Jane to Keele and knock it all down and replace it with more and more boxes till there is nothing left.
What kills me is when the developers get up at the public meetings and stand there and say that they are "improving the neighbourhood" and or "revitalizing the neighbourhood"
Excuse me?
The neighbourhood is just fine.
You want to revitalize a neighbourhood, think Jane Street north of St. Claire.
But no, they don't want to build out there cause that's not going to pull them.
Anyway, City council in their esteemed wisdom voted 33 to 10 (not even close) to allow the developpment. (Chasing the development fees?????)
It's a done deal.
Betrayed by our politicians.