Town Cinemas

280 St. Paul Street,
St. Catharines, ON L2R 3M9

Unfavorite 1 person favorited this theater

Showing 9 comments

rivest266
rivest266 on January 3, 2024 at 10:42 pm

Closed in 1992 by Cineplex Odeon and new management reopened on February 12th, 1993 as a discount cinema. Grand opening ad posted.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 19, 2023 at 7:23 am

The grand opening ad posted by rivest266 reveals that the plans for the 1973 remodeling of the Palace Theatre into the Town Cinemas were drawn by architect Grant R(ussell) Sauder.

rivest266
rivest266 on December 19, 2023 at 12:52 am

Odeon pulled out in 1962 and taken over by Canadian Theatres in 1965. It closed on May 6th, 1973 for rebuilding into the Town Cinemas 1 & 2, which reopened on August 3rd, 1973.

More to come…

Town Cinemas openingTown Cinemas opening 02 Aug 1973, Thu The Standard (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada) Newspapers.com

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 17, 2023 at 5:33 am

According to this web page from the St. Catharine’s Museum, the Griffin Theatre opened on May 6, 1915, with the first Canadian showing of Charlie Chaplin’s “The Tramp.” The appellation Opera House for this theater appears to be a modern invention. Early ads from the WWI era call it Griffin’s Theatre or the Griffin Theatre, and it operated as a combination vaudeville and movie theater from the beginning.

This was the second theater opened at St. Catharines by the Griffin Amusement Company. The first, Griffin’s Family Theatre, was a nickelodeon opened in 1908, and was John Griffin’s first venture outside Toronto. Both it and the new Griffin Theatre begun in 1913 and opened in 1915 were designed by local architect Thomas Husted Wiley. The Griffin Amusement Company (not related to the later chain of the same name in Texas) at its peak operated at least 34 theaters.

rivest266
rivest266 on December 13, 2023 at 10:18 pm

Opened on October 9th, 1941. Grand opening ad posted. More to come…

Roger Katz
Roger Katz on December 9, 2014 at 3:12 pm

Closed as a movie theatre in 2004, but was used for live music for a number of years afterwards.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2008/02/21/downtown-theatre-put-emotions-into-motion

Roger Katz
Roger Katz on December 9, 2014 at 3:06 pm

This was built in 1913 as the Griffin Opera House. As seen on the marquee, the lat incarnation was spelled Town Cinemas (not Towne Cinema).

http://miscdisorders.blogspot.com/2012/07/birth-of-town-cinemas.html

TivFan
TivFan on October 25, 2012 at 6:37 am

There has been talk, for years about restoring this theatre. I think this was the Opera House, way before the Palace and 1945 date. Take the google view, and see the awsome rear view of the building/auditorium (Carlise/look left and Head Street).