Grandview Theatre
1730 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver,
BC
V5N 4A3
1730 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver,
BC
V5N 4A3
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Additional information here: http://grandviewheritagegroup.org/?cat=33 Some of it does not match earlier comments.
seanjung: Thanks for the update. Since I posted my earlier comment, a page for the Olympia has been added to Cinema Treasures. It is listed under the name Roxy Theatre.
Joe: Olympia Theatre was a theatre built in 1939 and had over 900 seats. It stood at the corner of East Hastings and Nanaimo but it was demolished to make way for the construction of a new Royal Bank. The former Royal Bank branch still stands across the street. The Olympia was once part of the Odeon chain until going Independent. Then it stood empty for years until it was revived as the Roxy in the 80’s for two years. The Roxy closed and the theatre was resurrected as the Olympia following the Ridge Theatre’s format but it was shortlived.
A book published in 2001, “Neon Eulogy: Vancouver Café and Street,” by Keith McKellar, attributes the design of the Grandview Theatre to architect Henry Holdsby Simmonds. It also attributes to Simmonds the design of a theater called the Olympia, presumably also in Vancouver, but I can’t find that house listed at Cinema Treasures.
The Grandview Theater was opened in 1929 until 1959, often showing 2nd run films. Famous Players owned the theater until the building was sold and converted to a furniture store. Subsequent remodels included adding rows of windows on the second floor. The building today is essentially the shell of the former theater, but sadly gutted of all its original interior.