Delta Theatre
1087 Main Street East,
Hamilton,
ON
L8K 1A5
1087 Main Street East,
Hamilton,
ON
L8K 1A5
3 people
favorited this theater
The Delta Theatre opened in 1935 and was owned and operated by McKean Theatres from 1935 to 1969.
In 1970 Global Pictures took over operation of the the theater until it closed in 1980. The Delta has been converted into an apartment building.
Contributed by
Chad Irish
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
I CAN RECALL IN THE LATE SEVENTIES GOING TO THE DELTA. IT WAS LOCATE BETWEEN KING/MAINWHERE THEY INTERSECTED AT THE DELTA IN THE EAST END OF THE CITY. YOU COULD ENTER THE THEATER FROM EITHER STREET. AT THAT TIME IT WAS CALLED THE $1.50 DELTA. YOU COULD GO AND SEE A DOUBLE B- MOVIE FEATURE FOR THAT PRICE. I CAN ALSO REMEMBER GOING TO SEE ROCK BANDS PERFORM THERE ALSO. THE BUILDING STILL STANDS TODAY BUT IT HAS BEEN CONVERTED TO APARTMENTS. MARK
The theatre was gutted and turned into apartments in 1984. I walked past this everyday on my way to high school at the time.
This was an elaborate and ornate theatre with a balcony and opulent dome, and gorgeous wood paneling everywhere. It sat aprox 980 seats had entrances and two separate marquees on both King and Main Streets. The box office was in the middle of a long corridor between the two sets of doors. It also had a huge crystal chandelier.
In its final years it was home to Starvin' Marvin’s Burlesque (Strippers) 1972-73, then Rep Cinema (99 Cent Delta) 1977-1980, and finally when the seats were gone as a flea market (1980-1983).
There is one photo of the Main Street marquee in the Hamilton Public Library special collections dept. circa 1978.
Interior pictures are at the Ont Gov archives.
Also this theatre was built by Fred Guest in 1924 and he considered it his flagship cinema. Even though movies were the main attraction it had a full stage.
One last comment. I saw my first ever rock concert here in 1978. The band FM with Nash the Slash – featuring the hit song PHASORS ON STUN. I went and bought their LP BLACK NOISE as a result of this concert.
Brian. I remember going to the Delta in the late seventies but I don’t recall there being a balcony. It’s been almost thirty years but I thought it was more plain and square shaped. I do recall that you could enter from either King or Main street. As stated in my earlier post, it was called the $1.50 Delta around 1978 and you could see a double feature for that price..
I also recall seeing groups such as Sparks and Gentle Giant from England in the late seventies as well.
Yes. There was a balcony beside the Union Projection Room but in the 1970-80’s it was closed to the public – no seats. I remember seeing many big screen classics before VHS. I’ll post some pictures soon from Ontario Archives.
Excellent! Thanks very much for this… Do you also have pictures of other Hamilton theatres? Been looking for pics of the Galt Capitol too.I would be most grateful to see some pictures of the Delta Theatre’s interior.
The listing from Ontario Archives says the pictures are from the 1940’s, and I haven’t seen them myself. I am going to make the pilgrimage to the archives myself very soon.
BTW I have a theatrical connection to the old Delta, in a rather oblique way. I wrote a stage adaptation of a book called MY FATHER’S HOUSE by Sylvia Fraser. One of the scenes in the play takes place in the auditorium of the old Delta… We have staged it four times now, and each time I have taken the actors to the outside of the apartments and showed them where the marquee once was, and the location of the former Main Street fire exit, now bricked up.
1984 photo of the Delta Theatre as a flea market
View link
Here is another 1984 photo.
Delta Theatre building (apartments now) is for sale.
Pizza Pizza operates a phone centre out of what used to be the lobby.