Uptown Theatre
764 Yonge Street,
Toronto,
ON
M4Y 2B6
764 Yonge Street,
Toronto,
ON
M4Y 2B6
12 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 50 comments
I just looked up their websites. The Crystal Blu is at 21 Balmuto St and the Uptown is at 35 Balmuto St. So, south of Bloor, the Crystal Blu will be the first building, the Uptown the next building. Too bad they couldn’t have included a new Uptown theatre somehow at the bottom of the Uptown condo, but alas Famous Players is no more, and Cineplex Entertainment already has the Varsity 12 across Balmuto St in the Manulife Centre. That is why plans for a new 10 screen multiplex by Famous Players at 1 Bloor E (if IT ever gets built) have been dropped by Cineplex.
As far as I know, the Crystal Blu is a different condo, both on Balmuto St. I haven’t been by lately but the Uptown condo is more or less on the site of the Uptown theatre itself. I think the Crystal Blu is north of that.
really? Whats with the actual branding of Crystal Blu condos then, separate project or something? You see the singage in front of the balumto side.
That IS the Uptown condos…the one that is at 5 stories…glad to know it is finally above ground. Yes, I agree with you….it took so long to sell the condos, they could have kept the Uptown for another few years but I guess they had to close since they weren’t going to make it accessable for the disabled.
Does anyone know when the construction for the Uptown condos is actually starting? They have been tryign to sell those for ages. I know the one that was over the Backstage area is well under way being 5 stories or so above street level. With how much they were dragging their feet I am sure they could have kept the venue going a lot longer ;–(
This was and probably still is my favorite theatre in the GTA~! First introduction to it was the great White Squall followed closely by the Toronto Premiere of ST First Contact. When I started working front of house for the Toronto Film Fest, before and after my shift, this was the place to be for films like School of Rock, Barbarian Invasions, Haute Tension and so many others. The Uptown 1 with the thx rumble. How I miss thee.
Check out an ad from 1927 for the Uptown. The film was “Get Your Man” starring Clara Bow.
Plenty more Canadian movie theatre nostalgia over at 32 Elvis Movies!
Here is the entrance to the Condominium sales Office where the “Uptown” use to be.
View link
Although I’ve never been to Toronto, this cinema looked flat out amazing and it is a crime that it ever closed, let alone the horrible accident that cost a human life. The $700,000 cost to make this place accessible (does a ramp and a bathroom really cost that much?) to wheelchairs also screams of stupidity.
Here is a Flickr set of photos, as well as a Live Journal post that explains the closing. Does anyone have any more photos? Someone, somewhere, has to have photos of the massive screen in Uptown 1.
Furthermore, what were the two downstairs cinemas like? Were the screens large?
Those are great pictures. The exterior one is of the Backstage twins that were on Balmuto St, the former backstage area of the Uptown. That is now the site of the new Uptown condominium that is under construction. The interior photo is of the magnificent Uptown 1, which was until it’s demolition one of the best places in Toronto to see a film with it’s wide screen and great sound system. That had been the former balcony of the wonderful old Uptown theatre. Such a shame that the city lost such a gem.
Demolition firm fined $200K for UPTOWN THEATRE collapse resulting in death of one person, injuries to 17
THE TORONTO STAR, Oct. 23, 2006.
An Aurora demolition company was fined $200,000 today as a result of the death of one person and the injuries to 17 others when the Uptown Theatre collapsed three years ago in downtown Toronto.
Priestley Demolition Inc. was found to have violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The mishap took place on Dec. 8, 2003 at about 10:30 a.m. when workers were in the process of taking down the main auditorium of the Uptown Theatre at 35 Balmuto St.
As work progressed, the auditorium’s entire roof structure collapsed, thrusting masonry walls outwards and onto surrounding buildings.
Debris fell through the roof of the Yorkville English Academy, which was located in an adjacent building, trapping students and staff.
One student died and 12 others from the school were taken to hospital.
In addition, five workers from the Bank of Nova Scotia at 19 Bloor St. W. were taken to hospital.
The fine was imposed by Justice Geraldine Sparrow of the Ontario Court of Justice at Old City Hall in Toronto.
In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge. The money will go to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
So thats all there is for one of the oldest theatres in Toronto.
Thats pretty sad! Where are the photos?
Me thinks more people talked about the theatre than actually saw movies there.
All the historical action was in theatre 1.
If you didnt see a movie in theatre 1, you missed it.
I didnt see alot of movies there, But once I found out about theatre 1, I was hooked.
Because of the huge screen it was the best place to see a action or sci fi flick,
or any type for that matter.
The problem was that most of the time Famous Players like a lot of mainstream theatres just show
Hollywood schlock. I always waited for the decent movies to show up there,
which never happened.
Famous Players toyally mismanaged this theatre for the longest time. They had their plans!
It had one of the largest screens in the downtown
area I think, (if not the whole toronto area) before they started building the big,
bland, multiplexes of recent.
charming article about the Toronto Film Festival and the closing of this theater:
View link
They are now advertising in the real estate pages of the Toronto papers a brand new 50 story condominium called…what else “The Uptown Residences”. At least the name lives on. The entrance will be from Balmuto St where the Backstage theatres used to be. What a shame they couldn’t have kept the Uptown going until Famous Players replacement across Yonge St opened. That site is still standing so who knows how many years that will take. They were in such a hurry to tear down the Uptown and then look what happened. The Yonge-Bloor area which once had so many screens now only has the Varsity 12 and the Cumberland 4. It is right at the crossroads of Toronto, it was wonderful having so many theatres to go to with so many choices. It hasn’t been the same since and now the movie theatres are so scattered around the downtown/uptown area.
I had the pleasure of working at the Uptown for 4 years, volunteering for the Toronto International Film Festival. The rumours apparently had been going on for years that they were going to close the place down, no one really wanted to believe it. When it finally happened, it very much saddened me. I went by the location this past friday (dec 5), and saw the initial demolition of the balmutto backstage area, and almost started crying. I am saddened by the death of such a young man in the accident on Monday, and i am also saddened by the lost of one of the most beautiful theatres i have ever had the pleasure of seeing films in. Some of the films i saw there for the first time: Rushmore, Blade 2, Spun, Bubba Hotep, Cypher, Grass, The Mother, Safety of Objects,….the list goes on and on….
I would just like to say that what happened today at the old Uptown Theater in Toronto would have never happend if they had just restored the theater instead of demolish it. But you never know what could of happend if they kept the Uptown Open. After all it was over 90/years old. I hope that everyone is ok & god bless to the man who passed away today at the Uptown today. By-The-Way there was a English School building right next to the Uptown that was also got hit by the Uptown.
The 2931 seat number comes from when it was a single screen theatre.
The Uptown Theatre is located at 764 Yonge Street and it seated 2931 people.
Rear portion of theatre collapses onto adjacent building during demolition. Full story can be read here.
History gone. I can’t stand this! All the historic theatres in the world will be gone if this continues! We can’t be taking away from our past to build non essential places! At least this place didnt turn into another parking lot.
As of November 12, 2003, The Uptown has been closed, and is being demolished!
The Uptown Theater closed its doors forever on Sep. the 25th 2003 just after the Toronto Film Fest ended this year. I hope to visit Toronto soon so I can take some pictures before the sign is taking down. If anyone lives in Toronto, please take a picture of the Uptown and then add a photo here. Thank you.
I visited the Uptown this september during the Toronto International Film Festival, and the big auditorium is beautiful. There’s a big dome in the ceiling, and he red curtain is pulled up nicely before the program starts.
I can’t believe they were thinking of closing this, but I guess like anywhere else in the world it’s the new cineplexes that are killing the Treasures (I saw an AMC 30 in Ontario – 30 screens??). I’ve made some photos and will send them in soon.
~~~ SAVE THE UPTOWN THEATRE ( Toronto, Ont, Canada ~~~ The Uptown Theatre opened in 1920 as a movie theatre & live stage show theatre. In 1960 The Uptown was damaged by a fire, which gutted the main auditorium. In 1969 The Uptown then split into (5) screens (2) in the Backstage (2) on the main level & (1) in the balcony which is now cinema (1) the big auditorium of them all with 922 seats. Cinema (2) has 604 seats & cinema (3) has 404 seats. In the Backstage area, there is (2) Screens cinema (1) with 170 seats & cinema (2) with 140 seats. The Backstage Theater is now closed. The Uptown Theatre is a great place to see great action & horror movies on a very larger then life 50' X 80' Screen, with THX sound in cinema (1) & Dolby sound in cinemas (2) & (3). The Uptown is going to close its theater forever in 2003 if we don’t do anything about it, so please sign the petition. http://www.petitiononline.com/uptown/petition.html Thank You.
Help! Famous Players is closing the Uptown and the Eglinton, two of Toronto’s historic movie palaces! History is in the process of being erased!