Capitol Theatre
103 King Street East,
Hamilton,
ON
L7M 3J4
103 King Street East,
Hamilton,
ON
L7M 3J4
4 people
favorited this theater
This theater opened as the Loew’s Theatre in 1917, designed by Thomas W. Lamb, and was taken over by Famous Players from 1930 to 1946.
Odeon took control of the theater in 1946 and renovated and renamed it the Capitol Theatre.
The 2,259-seat theater, the largest in Hamilton when it opened, was sadly closed in 1971 and mostly demolished on January 10, 1973.
The former lobby space is still standing, and houses a restaurant today.
Contributed by
Chad Irish
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
Chad: Did find great b/w vintage photos on the archives site! And then decided to enlarge and print out the one marquee/store front photo! It looks like a F.W. Woolworths store to the right with their familiar red and white striped awnings. There was one near me while growing up and it is now the Lucy Desi Playhouse in Jamestown NY. (www.lucy-desi.com) Thanks.
After comparing the archive photo of 1945 to the above photo I see the changes and am not pleased although the building’s exterior seems to have been untouched!
“….the 2259-seat auditorium was demolished.” What a shame!
There was a Woolworth store but it was two blocks west on the same side as the capital…My Mom knew the people that ran the Capital and Palace… I remember getting in from the back door and walking along the stage while the movie was playing I was about 8..My mom used to take me there everyweek. I remember all the elvis movies and so many more…Miss these theatres.The palace had a milk shake machine ,I think it was 15 or 25 cents…..If anyone has any pic of the inside and out of these could you let me know ..thanks Rob
These links are updates to the ones posted by Chad I on October 19, 2004:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0011957.jpg
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0011959.jpg
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0011960.jpg
This site gives a pretty good history on the Loew’s/Capitol with some photos.
View link
I recall reading that the organ was removed from the theatre and was re-installed some where in Ancaster. The Hamilton Spectator newspaper from what I can recall stated that there was a rush to remove it because they had started to demolish the auiditorium.
I was there when they started the pre auction for the palace and capital…got to go backstage and down to the old change rooms and more..Thrilling,so much history..still can see it.I was only 15…I remember the huge pa system behind the curtains that was sold to a rock band..There was a story about someone buying the dome ceiling from one of them? We used to sit in the opera seats upstairs sometimes and think what it must have been like in the early 20s,30s 40s..up there ..Wow…When I was a little guy ,my mother would give me a dollar on sat to go to the shows..10cents each way on the bus,25 cents for the show,25 cents for a hot dog.15 cents for popcorn,15 cents for the milk shake machine..I was Rich! and we always stayed for a second screening of the movie .so much history and workmanship..gone..but I still remember…Hamilton should have kept at least one of them…
Another old LOEWS house pretty cool.
The building’s facade, still shows it’s theater past quite evidently judging by this street view of the old front. I guess the whole lobby front was preserved, but opened up to a sort of courtyard and parking lot now where the theater auditorium used to be?
Click here for Google Street View