Uptown Theatre
764 Yonge Street,
Toronto,
ON
M4Y 2B6
764 Yonge Street,
Toronto,
ON
M4Y 2B6
12 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loew's Inc.
Architects: Thomas White Lamb
Styles: Adam
Previous Names: Loew's Uptown Theatre, Uptown Backstage 1 & 2
Nearby Theaters
No theaters found within 30 miles
News About This Theater
- Oct 6, 2010 — Happy 50th, "Spartacus"
- Mar 3, 2004 — Cineplex Founder Nat Taylor Passes Away
- Jan 29, 2004 — Contributors Needed for Uptown Theatre Documentary
- Dec 11, 2003 — Festival Centre: New Home for the Toronto International Film Festival
- Dec 9, 2003 — More Details on the Uptown Theatre Collapse
- Dec 9, 2003 — Images of the Uptown's Demolition (Pre-Collapse)
- Dec 8, 2003 — BREAKING NEWS: Uptown Theatre Collapses, Killing At Least 1 Person
- Oct 15, 2003 — Last Days Of The Uptown
- Oct 14, 2003 — Toronto's Uptown Theater Closes Forever
With an original seating capacity of 3,000, the Uptown Theatre was one of Toronto’s largest theatre’s. It opened September 18, 1920. It was equipped with a Warren3 Manual 14 ranks theatre pipe organ which was opened by organist Horace Lapp.
It was damaged by a fire in the 1960’s, which gutted the main auditorium. Following the fire, the theatre was rebuilt. The main auditorium reopened on December 25, 1969. Screens 2 & 3 opened on January 30, 1970 and the Backstage 1 & 2 opened on March 20, 1970. The Uptown Theatre continued to show movies until it was closed in September, 2003.
The theatre was demolished in December, 2003. During the demolition a crane hit a support beam in the auditorium and killed a civilian in a building next door and injured 14 other people.
Famous Players has announced that it will replace the Uptown Theatre with a ten-screen movie center across the street, which will be part of a condo-plus-retail complex at 1 Bloor St. E. planned by the development company Nastapoka.
Contributed by
Jason R
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Recent comments (view all 57 comments)
“ Ignore the troll ”
Moi?
LaserboyTO is absolutely correct about the refusal of Famous Players to retrofit some of their older theatres for handicapped. It would have been cost prohibitive and these theatres were at the end of their commercial lives. They had built the Paramount just a few blocks to the south but what did the handicapped do— they went and protested and actually sued Famous Players over the uptown. The decision was made just to close these old theatres and that decision was the correct one! I worked for Famous Players 11 years and actually worked at the Uptown for a while!!
This entry needs to be updated to include the Uptown Backstage 1 & 2, two additional screens operating on the other side of the building, that opened on May 20th, 1970. I will add an advertisement for the opening to the photo section.
September 18th, 1920 grand opening ad in photo section.
Before the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival began, this theatre’s final movies were Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Open Range, and Uptown Girls. By the time it closed, it had limited manual wheelchair access.
Condos rising on the Uptown site. Article with theatre photos below.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/article-best-old-movie-theatres-toronto/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Referrer%3A%20Social%20Network%20%2F%20Media&utm_campaign=Shared%20Web%20Article%20Links&fbclid=IwAR3zRmRWbMEuKMpEZgIAwSfAo4QRmiBxPnnBN2heAfdmQphrgYInQyNMfqE
March 20th, 1970 ad:
Screen one reopened December 25th, 1969, Screens 2 & 3 opened January 30th, 1970, and Backstage 1 & 2 opened March 20th, 1970.
The Loew’s Uptown theatre was closed on April 15th, 1962 due to a careless cigarette smoker and reopened on August 15th, 1962. Grand reopening ad posted.
The man that was killed in the demolition was identified as Augusto Mejia Solis, a 27-year-old accountant from Costa Rica.