Palace Theatre
137 King Street E,
Hamilton,
ON
L8N
137 King Street E,
Hamilton,
ON
L8N
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Showing 51 - 61 of 61 comments
Mark: You are correct re the history of the Grand Opera House/Granada/Downtown. I was in contact with a librarian at the Hamilton Public Library. I was not aware of the history of the Downtown back in 1961 and did not see any reference to it under that name in the Granada listing.
Mark:
Its at:
View link
Its just an entry though…no details.
I will get more information when I get a chance. I will also send pictures of the Grand ( Grand Opera House, Hotel and Tivoli if I can get permision. Can you send me Enrights listing so i can compare it to my information. Thanks Mark
Mark: Good work…according to Enright’s listing the Downtown seated around 860. I thought it was a little bigger than that but its been over 40 years. I do remember it was quite stark inside, definately not an opera house interior. There may have been a balcony which was closed off when I went there. It was north of King…..not south as I said earlier.
I think we still need to fix the correct names and the address for the record. The Downtown was definately not next to the Tivoli. It would be nice to get everything straightened away…..future theatre buffs will thank us!
Hello again mjc a bit more reserch. this theatre may have been called the Downtown when you were at it in 1961 before it was torn down. As stated in my comments in Chad I. POSTING ON THE Granada, it started of as the Grand Opera House in 1880. The name was changed in 1935 to the Granda and then to the downtown in 1954. The picture in the book is in the early 1900 because of the cars. Mark
I found a picture in the book Hamilton “ THE HEART OF IT ALL”. It shows the north east corner of James Street north and York . In order from left to right is the GRAND OPERA HOTEL, THE GRAND ( sorry not the Granda as previously stated ) and the TIVOLI. It lists it as a 1200 seat theatre and that it was demolished in late 1961. There is a tall dark building a short distance from this corner which was called the Century. ( see Century posted by Chad I. I will check with the library for more information. Mark
Mark:
The plot thickens. Mike Rivest’s site, Enrights Ontario theatre sites and Cinema Tour all list the Downtown. If it was the Granada or Savoy (it could have been either) the demolition dates don’t jibe. I was in the Downtown in 1961. It was a tall dark brick building on a corner not far from where York Boulevard joins James St South. It definately was not next to the Tivoli. Maybe you could check with the Hamilton Public Library clipping section. I tried through the net but had no luck.
I also believe the Grand Opera House was closer to the downtown area on Gore Street and not next to the Tivoli but I could be wrong.
The only other large theatre theatre that I know of that was located on James Street North was the Grand Opera House ( renamed Granada as posted by Chad I.) It was located next to the Tivoli at 102, and the Tivoli was 108. It was demolished in late 1961. Is this the theatre you were thinking off? The other large theatres ( with stages ) were the Palace and Capital located on King street ( both demolished ) and the Century on Mary Street ( closed but still standing. ). Mark .
Hamiltonmark:
You seem pretty clued in on the Hamilton theatre history….do we need to list the old Downtown theatre on James Street between King and the Tivoli? I remember going there in 1961. At that time it had certainly seen better days. I suspect it had another name when it was first opened. As I recall it was a good sized theatre with about 15 or 16 hundred seats.
I believe the Palace seated 2007. The Capitol just down the street was biggest single screen movie theatre in Hamilton with around 23 hundred seats. Most of the seats in the Palace were on the main floor and the balcony was quite small. I was there many times in 1961 and also visited the projection room. Presentation was quite good at the Palace at that time with a large stage and good lighting. It was a very pleasant place to see a movie. I think it would have made a fine live theatre. John Lindsay has some brief information on the Palace/Pantages and a picture in his book “Palaces of the Night: a history of Canada’s Grand Theatres”.
The Palace theatre was located on King street a short distance down the street from the Capital theatre. It had over 3400 seats not 2220. it opened in 1921 under the name Pantages. It was renamed the Palace in 1930. It was demolished in 1972 the same year as the Capital. It is a shame that Hamilton did not keep one of these two theatres.