Mavrick's Music Hall
46 Dunlop Street W,
Barrie,
ON
L4N 1A4
46 Dunlop Street W,
Barrie,
ON
L4N 1A4
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Famous Players
Architects: John Wilson
Styles: Atmospheric
Previous Names: Roxy Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Roxy Theatre opened in 1931 and had an Atmospheric style auditorium with clouds ‘floating’ across the auditorium ceiling. It was closed in 1975. The Roxy Theatre was a one-screen movie theatre and had room for over 700 people to see a film or a live show.
The Roxy Theatre became home to the The Roxx nightclub from 1989 until 2013. It then became a nightclub named Sound Empire which opened September 14, 2013. In mid-September 2016 it reopened as a live music venue named Mavrick’s Music Hall. It was closed in February 2020.
Contributed by
Chad Irish
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
what is the easiest way for me to find out if this theater is for sale?
thanks
It is amazing how many theatres are named ROXY in imitation of the once famous name of the New York City panjandrum of the movie palace: Samual Lionel Rothapfel = “Roxy”. His namesake was the famous ROXY THEATRE in NYC, which outlasted him by only 25 years when it was demolished in 1960. The whole story is in that landmark book “The Best Remaining Seats: The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace” by the late Ben M. Hall in 1961. Various editions of it are sometimes available from www.Amazon.com, but only the first edition contains the color plates.
The Roxy is now (and has been since the early eighties) THE ROXX Nightclub. The nightclub still looks very much like a movie theatre. The upper balcony sections are VIP rooms and seperate bars, and the DJ booth is where the screen used to be.
im buying this and turnin it into a porn theater haha lol this is ma city yehhh barrie they should make a porno theater in downtown barrie it be interesting lol
Looks like Barrie Imperial Theatre is open and operating on 55 Dunlop. See their website http://www.barrieimperialtheatre.ca
Built in 1931 by John Saso and Sons, a local Barrie family at a cost of $100,000 in the midst of the depression. This was an atmospheric theatre with a special effects projector that would project clouds slowly swirling across the ceiling to make you feel you were outside. Stairways to the upstairs washrooms were constructed out of out lovely Italian travertine marble. This was a first class theatre all the way. The Sasos joined Famous Players Canadian Corporation as a partner-affiliate in the operation of this theatre from 1937 to 1960 when they retired, at which time Famous Players simply rented these premises! The Sasos were considered excellent theatre operators and I am proud to say that as this is the theatre where I started my showbusiness career in 1971!
A solicitation for bids (called tenders in Canada) on the theater to be built at Barrie for John Saso was published in the January 29, 1931, issue of The Northern Advance. The notice was placed by the architect for the project, John Wilson.
Maverick’s Music Hall can be seen in the upper left quadrant of this aerial photo of the Dunlop Street West area from the Barrie Historical Archive.
Photo #2 in this article has the Roxy on the right, originally Elizabeth Street.
https://www.barrietoday.com/columns/remember-this/the-theatre-block-when-gas-pumps-became-a-menace-4-photos-1622664?fbclid=IwAR1-E3VD5HVphe2UOYy5BUxDdhXRGv2z3EhA3xfAx7qM_bVxFZEZf6zm6Tg
Venue has been closed since Feb 2020.