Unfortunately only was able to catch I think it was 2 screenings at the Hyland while I was in film school and dont remember too much either way as to how it presented (maybe it was just the film I saw in Ravenous that turned me off lol ). Total agreement for the presentation and sound for the Famous screens.
Yeah it is pretty weird that happened, but outside of expropriating the land at the Westwood site, i Have the feeling that there wasnt too many sites in the central etobicoke area where they could have put it without a lot of money invested with the heavy urban areas and industrial. Only real thing I can think of maybe is actually putting one actually in Sherway Plaza finally?
Yeah the York with the personal connection I had to the place working it I really miss after the long run, along with the Uptown for all the festival screenings I caught there in its time and the Westwood for all the childhood memories. They, in some ways, don’t make them like that anymore le sigh
Yeah I fell in love with the York 1 theatre having worked there the summer of ID4 back in 1996. Awesomeness and totally agree with you a bout the grande staircase, a huge amount of class for the venue.
I wonder what is happening with the former site of the York next, both the Event Hall and gym that moved in after the closure have both been shuttered. Doubt there will be a chase of it being converted back with Silvercity, Canada Square Mt Pleasent and Regent D all being so close ;–( Has anyone heard anything?
Has anyone heard now that Cinplex has extended the lease with the Cumberland if they intend to infuse some cash into the space or was it merely so another chain doesn’t scoop it up such as Rainbow cinemas?
I know it seems like that whole stretch of Danforth is just a dead zone for theatres with the Allenby/Roby also being bulldosed for an Esso/Timmy’s with only the fascade left standing. I know from Coxwell to V Park there is a lot of land being redeveloped for more screens to be developed, and the Hall should be used for sure, maybe even snapped up by Dancap that showed the Toxic Avenger there a year or two ago.
Has there been any updates as to who might take over the site? And if I remember correctly it has been named a heritage site so it can’t be torn down correct?
Yeah I found the article and it is going to be a shame for sure that it went derelict for so long, although would have required a lot of work to at least convert it back to auditoriums since the property was gutted on the inside into office space which is tragic in itself. And yeah would have been cool if they found a way to make it work since the Kingsway reopened a few years ago and although it is still being pushed back that Humber Odeon is well along the way to getting there.
Has anyone actually heard when the actual Westwood is being brought down? Last time I heard the courtrooms and redevelopment of the cloverleaf were about to begin….. still really missed this space.
Its a case that it will stay the same (ETX), again if they retrofit any of the theatres it will be 6, 9 or 10 on the main floor or one of the one is the centre lobby on the top, but it will be tricky again since from my understanding for 70 mm the auditorium needs to meet certain specifications for seating as well for screen side and sound which is why it is easier to start from scratch such as the ones Famous has made for Colliseum, Scotiabank and Collosus. Since AMC are already existing houses and have limted room makes more sense to convert to etx rather than imax.
This is great news that it is reopening, is it correct that it is going to be with the Harry Potter film? What changes are planned for the inside and outside of the property?
It is not going to be a True Imax screen, just a retrofitted auditorium akin to the ETX to better compete with the Imax screenings taking place with Cineplex Entertainment, mainly the Parascotia. Whenever a new Imax auditorium is built in the city it is customarily built when the theatre is built or from scratch as part of an expansion (Colliseum 13 built further into the parking lot to built it to spec). The AMC doesn’t have the room. Not the first time I heard this rumor. Also heard someone at the Queensway saying their new Ultra AUX system was IMAX which it isn’t just higher resolution presentation.
Only managed to make it up to the Fairview Rainbow once and it defintely served its purpose and was a nice enough discount theatre but with all of the renovations the mall was going through at the time (this was back in 2006) I am not surprised Rainbow got kicked out and Cineplex/Famous took the property back. Have to make the trek up there at some point to see what they managed to do with the space, I imagine they started almost from scratch but…..
Swung by the Roxy site late last week and the conversion of it into an esso station is almost complete. They did a great job with the facing which was the part of the building that had been designated as a historical site and putting the marquee up with the original name of Allenby on it. Would have been even better though if they endorsed it as completely heritage and reopened as a rep house but cest la vie……
Unfortunately only was able to catch I think it was 2 screenings at the Hyland while I was in film school and dont remember too much either way as to how it presented (maybe it was just the film I saw in Ravenous that turned me off lol ). Total agreement for the presentation and sound for the Famous screens.
Yeah it is pretty weird that happened, but outside of expropriating the land at the Westwood site, i Have the feeling that there wasnt too many sites in the central etobicoke area where they could have put it without a lot of money invested with the heavy urban areas and industrial. Only real thing I can think of maybe is actually putting one actually in Sherway Plaza finally?
Yeah the York with the personal connection I had to the place working it I really miss after the long run, along with the Uptown for all the festival screenings I caught there in its time and the Westwood for all the childhood memories. They, in some ways, don’t make them like that anymore le sigh
But yeah had a feeling it was going to be a condo project, bummer
Yeah I fell in love with the York 1 theatre having worked there the summer of ID4 back in 1996. Awesomeness and totally agree with you a bout the grande staircase, a huge amount of class for the venue.
I wonder what is happening with the former site of the York next, both the Event Hall and gym that moved in after the closure have both been shuttered. Doubt there will be a chase of it being converted back with Silvercity, Canada Square Mt Pleasent and Regent D all being so close ;–( Has anyone heard anything?
Defintely was a nice gesture for sure.
Has anyone heard now that Cinplex has extended the lease with the Cumberland if they intend to infuse some cash into the space or was it merely so another chain doesn’t scoop it up such as Rainbow cinemas?
Yeah the photo defintely takes me back to the heyday of the chain after the expansion. Still miss catching screenings here ;–(
Thats great news, can’t wait to see how the space looks ;–)
Have you actual set a hard date for the reopening or is still just aiming for spring?
I know it seems like that whole stretch of Danforth is just a dead zone for theatres with the Allenby/Roby also being bulldosed for an Esso/Timmy’s with only the fascade left standing. I know from Coxwell to V Park there is a lot of land being redeveloped for more screens to be developed, and the Hall should be used for sure, maybe even snapped up by Dancap that showed the Toxic Avenger there a year or two ago.
Has there been any updates as to who might take over the site? And if I remember correctly it has been named a heritage site so it can’t be torn down correct?
Yeah I found the article and it is going to be a shame for sure that it went derelict for so long, although would have required a lot of work to at least convert it back to auditoriums since the property was gutted on the inside into office space which is tragic in itself. And yeah would have been cool if they found a way to make it work since the Kingsway reopened a few years ago and although it is still being pushed back that Humber Odeon is well along the way to getting there.
Wall St and Die Hard would have been amazing in this glorious space ;–)
Has anyone actually heard when the actual Westwood is being brought down? Last time I heard the courtrooms and redevelopment of the cloverleaf were about to begin….. still really missed this space.
sounds great any photos of what the new signage out front might be like? Will it be akin to the original signage?
Its a case that it will stay the same (ETX), again if they retrofit any of the theatres it will be 6, 9 or 10 on the main floor or one of the one is the centre lobby on the top, but it will be tricky again since from my understanding for 70 mm the auditorium needs to meet certain specifications for seating as well for screen side and sound which is why it is easier to start from scratch such as the ones Famous has made for Colliseum, Scotiabank and Collosus. Since AMC are already existing houses and have limted room makes more sense to convert to etx rather than imax.
This is great news that it is reopening, is it correct that it is going to be with the Harry Potter film? What changes are planned for the inside and outside of the property?
It is not going to be a True Imax screen, just a retrofitted auditorium akin to the ETX to better compete with the Imax screenings taking place with Cineplex Entertainment, mainly the Parascotia. Whenever a new Imax auditorium is built in the city it is customarily built when the theatre is built or from scratch as part of an expansion (Colliseum 13 built further into the parking lot to built it to spec). The AMC doesn’t have the room. Not the first time I heard this rumor. Also heard someone at the Queensway saying their new Ultra AUX system was IMAX which it isn’t just higher resolution presentation.
Only managed to make it up to the Fairview Rainbow once and it defintely served its purpose and was a nice enough discount theatre but with all of the renovations the mall was going through at the time (this was back in 2006) I am not surprised Rainbow got kicked out and Cineplex/Famous took the property back. Have to make the trek up there at some point to see what they managed to do with the space, I imagine they started almost from scratch but…..
Swung by the Roxy site late last week and the conversion of it into an esso station is almost complete. They did a great job with the facing which was the part of the building that had been designated as a historical site and putting the marquee up with the original name of Allenby on it. Would have been even better though if they endorsed it as completely heritage and reopened as a rep house but cest la vie……
Luv the photo Elissa great memories ;–)
I still can’t believe the property that the Humber is on is still laying idle and they havent started any kind of work on the condos proposed for it.
Yeah the Eglington and the York has some pretty good THX systems with the Uptown being extremely close. I miss those days of those grand halls.