Dollar Cinema
6900 Boulevard Decarie,
Côte Saint-Luc,
QC
H3X 2T8
6900 Boulevard Decarie,
Côte Saint-Luc,
QC
H3X 2T8
2 people
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Visited the former Dollar Cinema today (late September 2022).
The theater has been completely gutted. The lobby has been reconstructed and currently under renovation to be repurposed as a furniture store. The two former theater auditorium have been walled off (no longer accessible from inside the mall!), and turned into places of religious worship (a synagogue?) which can only be entered from exterior doors in the parking lot. Only saw the former lobby, you’d never guess a theater was once there.
Not only the end of the Dollar Cinema, but of ANY chance this movie theater might reopen again, it’s done. RIP Decarie Square Cinema, 1977-2022.
Closing July 31st, 2022 per:
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-s-iconic-dollar-cinema-closing-doors-for-good-1.5942859
After 18 years of giving Montreal-area movie lovers wanting a cheap option to take in a flick, Dollar Cinema is closing for good.
A post on the cinema’s Facebook page said that owner (and 2017 mayoral hopeful) Bernie Gurberg will not be renewing the lease on the second-floor, two-screen theatre at the Decarie Square mall in Cote Saint-Luc.
“To all our regulars, old and new moviegoers…. it is with a heavy heart that Bernie let us know that our much loved Dollar Cinema is closing July 31st, 2022,” reads the post.
Gurberg ran for mayor of Montreal in 2017 and came fourth with 2,141 votes, ahead of four other candidates. Those who pre-purchased tickets can use them until that time, and the cinema is working to get another cinema to honour them for a defined period of time after the doors are closed.
Dollar Cinema has been screening second (sometimes third or fourth) run movies for almost two decades for firesale prices.
A regular movie is $2.50, and popcorn and other snacks start at $1.
This weekend, Encanto, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Ambulance are screening.
Opened on 18/3/1977 on screen 1 with “The slipper and the rose” and on screen 2 with “Tunnel vision”.
There are plans to redevelop Decarie Square, which involves the demolition of the mall.
Opened on March 18th, 1977
Odeon Decarie Square Fri, Mar 18, 1977 – 33 · The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada) · Newspapers.com
This is in Côte Saint-Luc, not Montreal.
I was an assistant manager here when cineplex odeon ran it as a dollar house….what a shame nice theatre
I uploaded the 1977 grand opening ad in the photo section.
Update: ticket price increases to $2.85 (taxes included). Still inexpensive, but really astray from original concept of movies for a dollar.
From the looks of the website’s showtimes, the theatres looks like it is a four-screen theatre now.
The owner has added a new “living room” to show older movies in.
Mike Rivest’s pictures of the Dollar Cinema:
—> View link
—> View link
Background:
The theatre has 1,000 seats (350 in first screening room, 650 in second, with a performance stage in the latter) and has seen little to no renovation since first opening. The sound system however, has been upgraded to DTS Surround since becoming the Dollar Cinema. The theatre is located within the Decarie Square Mall, what can catatogorized as a dead mall.
History:
1977, Opened as “Odeon Decarie Square” under ownership of Cineplex Odeon. The name later changed to “Cinema Decarie Square”. First run films were shown.
1997, became a second-run film theatre. Proved unpopular.
1998, closed.
2000, Reopened as a repertory theatre for Indian Language films.
2002, closed again.
2004, Reopened as “Dollar Cinema”, by new owner Bernie Gurberg. Initially with a mix of repertory and second-run films, then only second-run films. Theme is ticket admission and all concessions cost only $1 (plus tax).