As indicated above by Mike Rivest, this was originally with 20th Century Theatres as the Twin Drive-In, then later went to Famous Players as the Famous 4 Drive-In after Famous Players absorbed 20th Century’s operations.
As noted above by Spectrum (and confirmed by the Google Maps street view), this theatre should be set to Demolished. The former theatre site is now a parking lot for the nearby CIBC bank.
The photo shown above is not the Shaw/Rickshaw Theatre, which is on East Hastings. That’s actually the Golden Harvest Cinema (now the Imperial Cinema) on Main Street in the photo.
As part of the renovations, I’m betting that the existing seating will probably be replaced by luxury recliners, which will mean a 60% reduction in the amount of seating in the complex.
The seating numbers look and sound a lot like the Cineplexes of the Garth Drabinsky era, though the modern numbers have a lot to do with the fact that they’re using luxury recliners in those theatres now. If they still used traditional seating, the seating total for this theatre would more likely be between 800 and 900 seats.
Landmark closed the Centre Cinema at the end of May as the result of the pandemic, but Magic Lantern Theatres has bought the Centre and will reopen it by the end of October (story in link below):
The Totem Theatre was located at 200 3rd Avenue West and its postal code was V8J 1L1. It was also a Famous Players theatre throughout its existence (as noted in the article above) and opened on April 12, 1951.
A newspaper article from the April 13, 1951 edition of the Prince Rupert Daily News on the opening of the Totem the previous night is now uploaded to the photo section. The opening night feature was the 1951 Gene Tierney film The Mating Season. More articles announcing the opening of the Totem have also been added to the photo section, including the opening night ad. In the accompanying article, it mentions that the Totem had 640 seats and was prominently decorated with Haida artwork in the lobby and auditorium.
Wrong Pantages. The photo above depicts the Pantages on West Hastings (which later became the Odeon Hastings and then the Majestic). This article is about the original Pantages on East Hastings (which later became the Royal, State, Queen, Avon, City Nights and lastly the Sun Sing).
The Royal has not been part of Landmark since 1990. It was bought by M. Radulovich in 1990, then taken over in 2001 by the owners of Coquitlam’s Pinetree 6 Cinemas (the same group that bought the Pinetree 6 from Cineplex Odeon in 1998), and since 2009 has been locally owned by Jason and Lisa Milne (see link below):
I don’t think it needs to be said that if this project is approved, it would mean the end of the Capitol 6 and leave the Odeon as the only remaining cinema complex left on what had been Victoria’s own version of Theatre Row (following after the demises of the Dominion, the original Capitol, the Atlas/Coronet and the Plaza/Haida).
Famous Players closed the Coronet on February 26, 1989 with a final showing of “Three Fugitives” (which moved over to the Capitol 6 after this). No listings were provided for the Coronet in the Times Colonist movie listings after this date, so this is the correct date for the closure.
The Dominion was demolished during December 1966 and January 1967 to make way for a parking lot and the expansion of the renamed Haida Theatre next door.
The North Hill opened on December 21, 1967 as part of National General Cinemas in partnership with Famous Players. It joined Canadian Theatres in 1973, then went to Canadian Odeon in 1978 with the merger of Canadian Theatres and Odeon Theatres (Canada) and then went to Cineplex Odeon in 1984 with the merger of Cineplex and Canadian Odeon.
The Odeon Ladysmith closed following its final show on October 5, 1957 (which fell on a Saturday) with a double bill of the films “Doctor at Large” and “The Ride Back”.
The Center Cinema is now officially back up and running:
Magic Lantern Theatres Center Cinema page
As indicated above by Mike Rivest, this was originally with 20th Century Theatres as the Twin Drive-In, then later went to Famous Players as the Famous 4 Drive-In after Famous Players absorbed 20th Century’s operations.
As noted above by Spectrum (and confirmed by the Google Maps street view), this theatre should be set to Demolished. The former theatre site is now a parking lot for the nearby CIBC bank.
Now just another luxury recliner-seated black box under Landmark.
The photo shown above is not the Shaw/Rickshaw Theatre, which is on East Hastings. That’s actually the Golden Harvest Cinema (now the Imperial Cinema) on Main Street in the photo.
Wasn’t the B&L chain a Famous Players operating partner at one point?
As part of the renovations, I’m betting that the existing seating will probably be replaced by luxury recliners, which will mean a 60% reduction in the amount of seating in the complex.
The seating numbers look and sound a lot like the Cineplexes of the Garth Drabinsky era, though the modern numbers have a lot to do with the fact that they’re using luxury recliners in those theatres now. If they still used traditional seating, the seating total for this theatre would more likely be between 800 and 900 seats.
According to the Landmark website, the Qwanlin Twin Cinemas has closed permanently as of September 1.
According to the Landmark website, the Yukon Cinema Centre has closed permanently as of September 1.
The Tower is now under the ownership of Magic Lantern Theatres:
Rainbow Cinemas & Magic Lantern Theatres
Landmark closed the Centre Cinema at the end of May as the result of the pandemic, but Magic Lantern Theatres has bought the Centre and will reopen it by the end of October (story in link below):
Dawson Creek movie theatre preparing to reopen
The Totem Theatre was located at 200 3rd Avenue West and its postal code was V8J 1L1. It was also a Famous Players theatre throughout its existence (as noted in the article above) and opened on April 12, 1951.
A newspaper article from the April 13, 1951 edition of the Prince Rupert Daily News on the opening of the Totem the previous night is now uploaded to the photo section. The opening night feature was the 1951 Gene Tierney film The Mating Season. More articles announcing the opening of the Totem have also been added to the photo section, including the opening night ad. In the accompanying article, it mentions that the Totem had 640 seats and was prominently decorated with Haida artwork in the lobby and auditorium.
Based on the size of the building, probably not a very big theatre either - maybe no more than 30 seats at most.
Wrong Pantages. The photo above depicts the Pantages on West Hastings (which later became the Odeon Hastings and then the Majestic). This article is about the original Pantages on East Hastings (which later became the Royal, State, Queen, Avon, City Nights and lastly the Sun Sing).
The Royal has not been part of Landmark since 1990. It was bought by M. Radulovich in 1990, then taken over in 2001 by the owners of Coquitlam’s Pinetree 6 Cinemas (the same group that bought the Pinetree 6 from Cineplex Odeon in 1998), and since 2009 has been locally owned by Jason and Lisa Milne (see link below):
About the Royal Theatre
I don’t think it needs to be said that if this project is approved, it would mean the end of the Capitol 6 and leave the Odeon as the only remaining cinema complex left on what had been Victoria’s own version of Theatre Row (following after the demises of the Dominion, the original Capitol, the Atlas/Coronet and the Plaza/Haida).
Photo of the Kerrisdale from 1958 now uploaded to the photo section.
Photo of the Cedar Theatre now uploaded to the photo section. As shown above, the theatre design is a Quonset hut.
More on the Dominion Theatre demolition:
Famous Players closed the Coronet on February 26, 1989 with a final showing of “Three Fugitives” (which moved over to the Capitol 6 after this). No listings were provided for the Coronet in the Times Colonist movie listings after this date, so this is the correct date for the closure.
The Dominion was demolished during December 1966 and January 1967 to make way for a parking lot and the expansion of the renamed Haida Theatre next door.
The North Hill opened on December 21, 1967 as part of National General Cinemas in partnership with Famous Players. It joined Canadian Theatres in 1973, then went to Canadian Odeon in 1978 with the merger of Canadian Theatres and Odeon Theatres (Canada) and then went to Cineplex Odeon in 1984 with the merger of Cineplex and Canadian Odeon.
The Odeon Ladysmith closed following its final show on October 5, 1957 (which fell on a Saturday) with a double bill of the films “Doctor at Large” and “The Ride Back”.
The Capitol showed its last movie on January 9, 1982 (which fell on a Saturday) when it played “True Confessions”: