Paradise Theatre
1006 Bloor Street W,
Toronto,
ON
M6H 1M2
1006 Bloor Street W,
Toronto,
ON
M6H 1M2
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 30 comments
Correction: It was renamed Eve’s Paradise in March 1986 showing adult films as the owner moved from the old Eve theatre.
Reopened as Eve in September 1972 along with Eve theatres in Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax as part of Famous Player’s Eve Pool. Ads posted.
It reopened as Paradise on August 17th, 1990.
Grand opening ad posted.
the Paradise theatre opened on October 1st, 1937 with “Love on the Run” with Jack Benny
This theatre is open.
https://paradiseonbloor.com/calendar
Live events and movies alternating nights.
Scheduled to reopen in 2019 as “A state-of-the-art venue presenting a curated mix of newly released films, older classics and undiscovered gems, as well as live music, talk series and multi-arts events.” Updated full history from 1910-2019 under “Read More” in below link. Including built as “one-storey brick theatorium" Bloor Palace in 1910, renamed The Kitchener in 1918.
http://paradiseonbloor.com/
Even more information appears: This weblog post by Doug Taylor says that the house did open as the Paradise in 1937, but the structure as designed by Benjamin Brown included remains of a gutted earlier building that had housed the Kitchener Theatre, opened as a movie house in 1909.
This post from blogTO says that the Paradise, now under renovation, is slated to reopen later this year as an upscale multi-use event facility, with movies as part of the mix.
If the name Paradise Theatre appears only in 1944, this house must have operated under a different name earlier. This real estate listing (the property has sold, so the listing is likely to vanish soon) says that it was built in 1937, and was designed by architect Benjamin Brown.
The project was noted in the July 3, 1937 issue of The Film Daily:
Apparently the cinema was bought by vintner Moray Tawse and is slowly being made ready fir re-opening, maybe at the end of this year Source: Facebook.
This theatre was built and owned for many years by the Giacomini family.
The stage infront of the curtain is a small plywood structure the original stage and procenium is located about 10feet behind the screen with a very narrow procenium arch giving a very small 137:1 picture Festival moved the screen forward to allow it to be wider The theatre never had any accoustic treatment and when we were installing the sound for festival we measured reverb time that was gigantic we used to joke the sound from the first show was bouncing around the room well after the movie was over
Quick question – is the stage under the curtain in this theatre still operational? ie; would it work for musical performances/church services?
New photos added, taken April 2003.
This theatre was used for two scenes in the 2004 feature film ‘Home at the End of the World’ with Colin Farell. The theatre has a balcony and the decor is quite plain inside. It has a small lobby area with a concession counter. I only saw one movie here and the sound wasn’t good. Hopefully someone will reopen it someday. It’s a nice neighborhood theatre worth preserving.
Just another day in Paradise.
The Friends of the Paradise Official site—> http://www.friendsoftheparadise.com/
I would love to see someone actually save and restore this theatre, it is the last one of the fest chain waiting to be rented/purchased and or restored to its former glory.
Another photo, probably before the graffiti:
View link
I got another # off the sign (this past winter). Don’t know if it works or is current: 416-340-8900
I don’t pass by that often but if I ever do again and see a new # I promise to post it right away! ;)
I got this number off the sign last spring, don’t know if it still works but the lease # was 416-762-5760,
Good luck!
I know that, but there is no way to contact the owner…no phone number, mailing address, not even the local business owners know the number.
Does anyone know the phone # to find out about the lease? I’ve called everywhere and no one knows the number! Please contact me via my email and let me know if you know!
Thanks
Thanks for the idea Electro! If you’re my only customer your ticket price might have to be $1 million! ;)
@Theme Queen: Contact the people at http://revuecinema.ca/ They may be able to put you in touch with the right people. I live just a few blocks away from the Paradise and I’d love to see it operating again. One customer right here!
I went by there yesterday but the number wasn’t there, it was there in the spring, do you know what the rent was for the Kingsway?