York Theatres 1 & 2
101 Eglinton Avenue E,
Toronto,
ON
M4P 1H4
101 Eglinton Avenue E,
Toronto,
ON
M4P 1H4
3 people
favorited this theater
Not to be confused with an earlier York Theater that was on Yonge Street, this two-screen theatre opened in 1969 and closed on August 26, 2001 with Nichole Kidman in “The Others” & Peter O'Toole in “Lawrence of Arabia”. Since its closing it has served as a club venue and banquet hall, and by 2011 was a gym, which has closed. It has been converted into condominiums.
Contributed by
Christopher Walczak
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
Ahh the Hyland. Another one of my favourites (with the Hollywood next door). I remember growing up in the 60s when all of these places were still single screen theatres (Hyland, Fairlawn, Runnymede, Humber, Uptown, Imperial etc) and my favourite spot was the front row of the balcony. And I remember the Westwood when it was one big theatre before they added on the Westwood “Cinema” in 1968…those were the days.
Hollywood South was a good auditorium. North…not so much. The Hyland downstairs had a negative projection angle (sort of like a drive-in) and a very wide screen. I usually sat about 4 or 5 rows in front of the booth left of the aisle. I must have seen ET there a half-dozen times including opening night. I still remember lines for that going down the side alley and ‘round the back. Was a nice booth to work, too, though I didn’t like upstairs as much.
The marker on the Google map is in the wrong place. After closing, it served as a banquet/events hall for a while and is now a fitness centre called the Yorkville Club.
The Yorkville Club has now been closed as the building is about to become a new condo complex along with the parking lot to the west of the theatre building.
This, one of my very favourite theatres has now been demolished, to make way for the Madison condominium complex. I have fond memories of this beautiful building, right from the beginning, went here a lot durning the 70s and 80s, saw many major releases here over the years. This was a first run showcase for the Odeon chain back then and have missed it since it’s closing. Farewell Odeon York!
Heard the news very recently they were finally going to be starting on clearing the site for the construction of the condos. Will be interesting to go back to the area to take a look to see how it is going along.
I really liked the Odeon York 1 & 2. Saw many movies in the 70’s there including Close Encounters of the First Kind on national release which was big time to me. Knew a few of the managers. This first Manager of this theatre died tragically in accident way too young – I don’t even think he was 25!
Memorable screenings I attended here include 70mm presentations of Ghostbusters, Amadeus and the restored Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus and My Fair Lady as well as 35mm presentations of The Last Temptation of Christ and Silverado as their first THX presentation and Jurassic Park as their first DTS presentation. I remember Warren Beatty complementing the York in a tv interview after he held an Ishtar screening there back in 1987.
Also saw the Special Editions of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back upstairs and Return of the Jedi downstairs. I think I saw myself in the lineup for Empire Strikes Back on CFTO news. I wonder if that video is online anywhere?
This theatre’s space has now been taken by a condo building with tenants: Loblaws, LCBO and OrangeTheory.
The cinema closed on August 26, 2001. Its final two films were The Others (digital) and Lawrence of Arabia.