Westwood Theatre
Toronto,
ON
3 people
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The Westwood Theatre was originally operated by 20th Century Theatres when it opened in February 1952. In the late-1980’s, Famous Players took over.
In the late-1960’s, a second screen was added in a new addition to the original building. In 1980, the original auditorium was divided in two, making the Westwood Theatre a triplex.
The Westwood Theatre closed in 1998.
Contributed by
Doug Gordon
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Recent comments (view all 36 comments)
Has anyone actually heard when the actual Westwood is being brought down? Last time I heard the courtrooms and redevelopment of the cloverleaf were about to begin….. still really missed this space.
I remember reading in my local newspaper that it will probably be torn down this spring, so we shall see. Imagine all the movies that could have played there these last 12 years! Such a shame. The Kingsway is back open, the Humber is re-opening, I’m sure the Westwood could have worked too.
Yeah I found the article and it is going to be a shame for sure that it went derelict for so long, although would have required a lot of work to at least convert it back to auditoriums since the property was gutted on the inside into office space which is tragic in itself. And yeah would have been cool if they found a way to make it work since the Kingsway reopened a few years ago and although it is still being pushed back that Humber Odeon is well along the way to getting there.
I remember years ago writing to then Famous Players president John Bailey asking if they had any plans to build a new SilverCity in Etobicoke to replace all the closures (Westwood, Skyline, Skyway 6) and he said no but that the nearby Coliseum by Square One was open! Anyone knowing the Toronto area will know that the Coliseum is nowhere near central Etobicoke and you would definitely need a car to get there. He had actually given me bus routes to get there. It would take ages to get to Square One by bus. Anyway while North York and Scarborough got several new multiplexes, Etobicoke only got the Queensway 18 which is beautiful, but it’s more or less in Southern Etobicoke so between that and the Woodbine Centre in the north, there is nothing in the central area
Yeah it is pretty weird that happened, but outside of expropriating the land at the Westwood site, i Have the feeling that there wasnt too many sites in the central etobicoke area where they could have put it without a lot of money invested with the heavy urban areas and industrial. Only real thing I can think of maybe is actually putting one actually in Sherway Plaza finally?
I always thought on Dundas in the Cloverdale Mall area would have been a good spot. Or replace that awful Honeydale Mall with a SilverCity, that could have been a good site. Or they could have just built it on the Westwood site including that big empty property to the east of it. It could have been called SilverCity Westwood. I used to live in an apartment building on the 18th floor facing west (from 1980-93) and could see the Westwood from my balcony. Could look over and see how busy it was by checking out the parking lot.
The provincial court house that was to be built on this site has been cancelled in the latest provincial budget, so it looks like this will be sold off, probably to condos according to the local city counsellor in the area. So don’t know if the theatre will be torn down this spring as planned, or just sit there empty for years to come. What a shame…
Yeah one of my friends works for the ministry of housing and this announcement came across his desk, he actually lives at the Tridel block across the street and says its a shame. With it being the city owned land would have been at least great if a brand new project is just going to be built there it would be good for the former site to be finally brought down so they would have an easier time to flip it. Every time I drive by the theatre and keep seeing it wear further and further down getting pretty bummed.
I would imagine a condo development just like the Tridel one with several towers will be built on the Westwood property and that big patch of land next door. I’ve also read that a grocery store of some kind is badly needed in the area, so maybe that would be included in any development.
Yeah since they took down the basics there by Power the closest ones are the Basics and No Frills by East Mall and Dundas, not bad for the driving set, but a little off the beaten track for the condo guys there.