Cedarbrae Cinemas 8
3434 Lawrence Avenue E,
Toronto,
ON
M1H 1A9
3434 Lawrence Avenue E,
Toronto,
ON
M1H 1A9
1 person
favorited this theater
The Cedarbrae Theatre was built by renovating the remains of the former Cedarbrae Bowl structure, built in the late-1950’s. Unfortunately, the parcel of land the theatre was located on was not much larger than the theatre building and a parking lot had to be created across the street in the Cedarbrae Plaza lot.
The Cedarbrae Theatre opened November 21, 1969 with two screens. Two more were added in 1975; two more added in 1982; and two more were added in 1987 turning the theatre into an eight-plex.
20th Century Theatres and later on Famous Players ran the Cedarbrae, which in later years showed discount movies.
In 1987-1991, the Cedarbrae was perhaps the biggest theatre in Canada until Centre Laval 12 opened near Montreal.
The Cedarbrae Cinemas 8 closed in 2003 after the nearby Eglinton Town Square opened. The theatre has been replaced by a shopping center.
Contributed by
Chad Irish, Jeremy Hopkin
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Site replaced by Staples, Marks, EBGames and ListenUP Canada. Staples was recently closed weeks ago but could raise a possiblity Cineplex would reclaim it and build a SilverCity/VIP there since Scarborough has no VIP cinema.
In part 2, they could build a similar sized cinema since Cedarbrae is so small at the David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute property (2740 Lawrence Ave. E.) which is 12 acres if the TDSB or public body is unable to keep it. Funny story is the TDSB is building the new school on the Bendale Business and Technical Institute property (1555 Midland Ave.) which they are selling off the portions of the site where it ends up as 111 townhouses. The Thomson property is also being sold off too but the community is unimpressed about 400 townhomes and they wanted it to keep it into public hands. If the TDSB sells the school lands to Rio-Can, Cadillac Fairview or any commercial developer, the new Cineplex standard/VIP SilverCity branded theatre being built on Thomson Collegiate lands could spell trouble for Coliseum Scarborough.
Have you heard of any new development in that area? With Cineplex already having the Coliseum (now Cineplex Cinemas), Morningside and Eglinton Town Centre in Scarborough, I doubt if they’d want to open any more. Scarborough seems pretty well covered it seems.
To do so, they could sell off the less powerful Morningside to Landmark (we need healthy competition) since Coliseum cannot expand into a VIP unit. This could be interesting telliott since one high school in Ottawa closed in 2005 that sat empty for a few years until it became a Wal-Mart. In my point of view, SilverCity Cedarbrae and VIP would have as far as 8 or 12 cinemas (3 VIP, 1 AVX) and similar features to what STC has.
Since Landmark has no cinemas in the inner city limits within Toronto, Morningside could be a nice option to sell to pay for the new theatre. Rio Can would have to deal with Cineplex first, many remember when Rainbow Fairview closed, the landlords booted them out for the Cineplex cinema.
Interesting. I DO wish Landmark would expand inside the city, like you said, we need the competition. I always regret that once Cineplex took over Famous Players, there went the 10 screen complex at 1 Bloor East to replace the Uptown. That would have been a nice addition to the Yonge-Bloor area.
There is not one photo of this theatre in the photo section but there are two pages of advertisements. That is a ridiculous policy to have. Opening ads for a theatre would be an exception but a photo section should contain photographs.
Southern Comfort it’s amazing how difficult it is to find photos of theaters past. However, advertising still lives on. You have to take what you can get. Please feel free to do the research and find a photo of this theater.
I added three photos today, two that I took when I worked there in the 80’s, and one that I came across.
Since Cedarbrae 8 left its legacy after its demise, Fit4Less by GoodLife opened in the former Staples building which still stands.
Perhaps Cineplex may have a look at Cedarbrae since closing the Walmart store last year in a form of a Junxion brand. Junxion is a movie theatre and entertainment Centre (like Xscape and Rec Room) to open in Mississauga in 2020.
I wonder if Cineplex will ever construct the new Junxion Cinema at Cedarbrae with eight screens. This will require the relocation of Goodlife Fitness.
Right now, Morningside and Cedarbrae Mall just went downhill since then.