Capitol Theatre

560 Talbot Street,
St. Thomas, ON N5P 1C3

Unfavorite 2 people favorited this theater

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Famous Players

Architects: Herbert George Duerr

Functions: Furniture Showroom

Styles: Art Deco

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 819.874.3456
Manager: 819.874.3207

Nearby Theaters

Capitol Theatre

The Capitol Theatre opened in 1931 as a single screen movie and live shows venue, with a seating capacity of 1,075. In 1995 it was triplexed into a three-screen movie house.

The Capitol Theatre was a great place to enjoy a great film in the wonderful city of St. Thomas.

By 2008, the programming included live performances and concerts as well as movies. It has since closed and is now a furniture store.

Contributed by Chad Irish

Recent comments (view all 11 comments)

vic1964
vic1964 on June 14, 2007 at 2:08 pm

I am grateful to Mark Cosens for saving this gem,as i had the honor of projecting on and off during the 90s!I cant wait to see more input on this theatre page.

vic1964
vic1964 on June 19, 2008 at 10:28 am

Nice pictures!I have an auditorium shot which shows it is identical to the Palace[Park]in London.

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on November 7, 2012 at 11:07 am

This theatre was built for N. L. Nathanson founder of Famous Players Canadian Corporation. Famous Players sold this theatre off to Ron Dalziel in about 1974. Later he sold this theatre to June and Ken Tarrant, who operated this theatre for a while and tripled this theatre in the 70’s!! In the small theatres Ken didn’t use regular theatrical screens, he used dry-wall painted white and sat the speakers down on the floor in front of the screen. The main was good as it used the existing proscenium arch with a large large screen. Cineplex Galaxy built a theatre in St. Thomas which ended this theatre’s life as a commercial movie theatre. This situation was always tough because the St. Thomas people could go down the road just 20 miles to LONDON, Ontario to see a movie!!

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 6, 2012 at 1:00 am

This article from the St. Thomas Times Journal of December 22, 2008, about the closing of the Capitol Theatre, says that the house first opened in 1931. That conforms to the page for architect Herbert George Duerr at the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, which lists a theater for Famous Players on Talbot Street in St. Thomas as a 1931 Duerr project.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on December 6, 2012 at 1:20 am

Status should be changed to closed. This theater has been converted to a furniture store; the current Google Street View shows the faded painted arch that was above the marquee, but it looks like this will soon be covered over.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 4, 2014 at 6:21 pm

Near the bottom of this web page is a photo of Antoine’s Home Furnishings as it looks now. The arch is still there, but the decorative detail has been painted over.

Antoune
Antoune on October 28, 2014 at 7:34 pm

The arch was brought back to original. It won an award.

arcticspill
arcticspill on August 12, 2022 at 10:22 am

I was here only once, roughly around 2000, though I can’t remember the film. Sticky floors, poor sound quality. I’m glad the Galaxy was built, though it should probably be a standalone closer to Talbot St as opposed to integrated into Elgin Centre.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on November 5, 2022 at 11:01 am

Ronald Dalziel, who had purchased the St. Thomas Drive-In the year before, leased the Capitol from Famous Players in January 1977, according to an article in the March 28, 1977 issue of Boxoffice.

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