Strand Theatre
Wellington Avenue and Main Street,
Chilliwack,
BC
V2P 2C7
Wellington Avenue and Main Street,
Chilliwack,
BC
V2P 2C7
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The Strand Theatre opened its doors in early-1924 by Mr. George Sweetman but suffered major fire damage on the early morning hours of March 13, 1926 with an estimate $12,500 in damage. After the fire comes some discussion about reconstruction but decided that a building similar to the old Knick Block could not be considered.
Originally a first-run theatre, it was operated by Famous Players. Claude G. Smith was the last manager of the Strand Theatre before he became the manager for the then-new and larger Paramount Theatre in 1949, also operated by Famous Players.
On the same day the Paramount Theatre opened its doors on June 9, 1949, the Strand Theatre immediately closed its doors for a time for renovation, and its first-run features that previous ran at the Strand Theatre moved over to the Paramount Theatre. The Strand Theatre reopened a few months later.
During its final years of operation, it was mainly a special events and special showings house until the Strand Theatre closed in the late-1950’s.
Contributed by
50sSNIPES
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The original location of the Strand Theatre, in the Knight Block, where it operated from May 8, 1924 until the building was destroyed by fire on March 13, 1926, was in fact the old Chilliwack Opera House, on the top floor of a three story building built in 1907, where Chilliwack’s first regular programs of movies were presented beginning in the summer of 1909. The movie programs were transferred to the new Edison Theatre in 1910, and the Opera House then remained a live venue until adapted into the Strand in 1924. The new Strand of 1926 was in a single-story building on the same site.