Algoma Theatre
664 Queen Street E,
Sault Ste. Marie,
ON
P6A 2A4
664 Queen Street E,
Sault Ste. Marie,
ON
P6A 2A4
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Last operated by Famous Players, and closed on March 22, 1987 with “Lethal Weapon”.
This opened on October 30th, 1920, by Famous Players. Grand opening ad below.
I managed the Algoma Theatre in the Sault for a while in 1979. It was an original purpose built theatre on land acquired in 1920 from the original Canadian founder of Famous Players, N.L. Nathanson! Seating capacity was around 700 — and there was lots of competition like the Odeon and the Princess, as well as the Station Mall Cinema. That’s why I didn’t stay there too long, I don’t like to be in extremely competitive situations — so I went back to The Victory Theatre in Timmins, Ontario!!
For what its worth, the abbreviation on Ste. (as opposed to spelling Sainte) is the generally accepted spelling for the city in both Ontario and in Michigan. As such some theatres have separate city listings because of the spelling overlap, like this one. These should all be fixed so they stay in the same heading.
It would appear the Princess on 163 Gore St. is for sale, last used as a nightclub:
http://www.century21.ca/Property/ON/P6A_1M3/SAULT_STE_MARIE/GORE_ST/163
The Biltmore/Odeon was refurbished and in operation as a live venue. Formely titled the Lock City Grand, it’s now just The Grand. No apparent website, but plenty of event articles:
http://www.saultseller.com/LOCKCITYGRANDTHEATRE.php
Someone has set up a Facebook page for Historic Theatres in the Sault:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=107260227178
Used to go to the Algoma now and then. It was regarded as the upper class cinema. Don’t know why. Maybe because the admission was higher. Growing up in the ‘50s and '60s most of us went to the Princess Theater on Gore St. and the Biltmore (later the Odeon) on Queen St. The Biltmore was located across from the Algoma and a couple of doors down from the Orpheum.
Would like to see the Princess Theater and the Biltmore/Odeon listed on this site if possible.
Here’s an updated link to the picture Bryan Krefft posted above as well as two others from the Ontario Archives:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0012556.jpg
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0012557.jpg
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0012558.jpg