Empire Capitol 7
223 Princess Street,
Kingston,
ON
K7L 1B3
223 Princess Street,
Kingston,
ON
K7L 1B3
1 person
favorited this theater
Located in the heart of historic downtown Kingston, the Allen Theatre was opened by the Allen Theatres chain on December 30, 1920. It had a 1,207 seating capacity. Later taken over by Famous Players and renamed Capitol Theatre.
Renovated in 1990, the Capitol 7 has long been a wonderful place for families to go and watch first run films. The Capitol 7 is one of the oldest functioning theatres in Ontraio today, and the friendly staff and management really do a great job maintaining its strong reputation.
What singles this theatre out from others in the area is that the staff seem to really ‘care’ about their job and giving customers the best experience possible. The lobby and auditoriums are always clean. The ushers are always friendly and often approach you after the film and inquire as to your opinion of it (they even sometimes remember what movie you saw!!) The sound levels are always perefect (and if they aren’t, staff is more than happy to adjust it at the audience’s request). Rarely are there scratches or problems with the films and the projectionists are constantly adjusting the focus to make the picture as clear as possible.
Sure the screens aren’t as large as other theatres in the area, but the overall experience make this theatre the best place to go to watch movies in Kingston.
Contributed by
Damon Lindelof
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
How did they divide this theatre in to 7? Did the original have a balcony, that was divided as well as the main floor? Or did they add on to the building at the back or beside it. I love when they keep older theatres open, even if it means dividing them since ususally the lobby areas are kept as they originally were.
According to the AFY Yearbook of 1936, the Capitol then seated 1,207.
Here is a recent photo of the Capitol.
This theatre was purchased by the Famous Players Canadian Corp. in 1929. It has always been a movie theatre. It was built in 1923 by the Allen Bros. I got this information from the library. We hold 1316 seats currently. We still have a catwalk that goes up over the original ceiling upstairs. The Olympia is part of the original cinema 1…the largest house. I have pictures from 1923 to currently of the building. The stone front with the lion heads and columns are original from the day it was built, still hold up our marquee. Our last renovation was in 1990 to the 7-plex. Currently, we’ve fixed up our front & back marquees (with flashing lights still) and put in new seats in the largest cinema. Most of our curtains are working and open/close for each performance.
This is a 2009 photo.
The front facade looks like London Ontario Capitol which was a C Howard Crane theatre built by the Allen chain.
Before this theatre closes when the new Empire opens, can someone tell me how this was divided from one single theatre in to 7?? I’ve always wondered how 7 screens were fit in to the original.
It’s closing? Shame. Always wanted to visit there, but understand if there’s a new one opening nearby. (I keep hearing about how awesome the new Empire locations are, even though they have yet to build one in BC).
I too am curious how they divided it up and would love to see interior photos.
I know Jason, I always hoped to make it here too. I love the marquee out front and on Google streetview have gone around to the back where it appears that there is the original building and an add on to the north of it. They have a marquee back there too.
By the way, LOVE LOVE the photos you posted awhile back showing the late great Uptown in Toronto, OMG I miss that place. Now there is an art deco looking condo building on the site called…The Uptown. I especially love the photo taken from the front and above, showing the tall Uptown sign, and the entrance leading from the main doors, up over the alleyway to the main huge Uptown building with the great black roof. That is exactly the view from my nephew’s former apartment when he lived in the tower of the Hudson’s Bay Centre.
I guess no one from Kingston knows how this was divided up. Too bad Empire couldn’t update this location instead of building way up near 401. That will leave downtown Kingston with only the small Screening Room. That’s a shame. Downtown Windsor recently lost it only cinema location, ironic since both Windsor & Kingston downtowns are close to their respective universities, which I’m sure makes up a good portion of their audience.