Gateway Cinema

210 Main Street E.,
North Bay, ON P1B

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Odeon Theatres (Canada) Ltd.

Functions: Nightclub

Styles: Streamline Moderne

Previous Names: Melrose Theatre, Odeon Theatre

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News About This Theater

Old Odeon Theatre building in North Bay

The last of the downtown cinemas to survive in North Bay, Ontario. The Melrose Theatre was opened on November 14, 1941 with Deanna Durbin in “It Started with Eve”. It was taken over by an independent operator on March 18, 1986 and was renamed Gateway Cinema. It closed about 2002 still in intact, in original condition. It lived on for a while as a church hall. Its now a youth centre functioning as a nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights.

The simple but elegant interior included circular Art Deco style light fixtures on the side walls. The theatre has a mezzanine style balcony and always had a light colored interior. No interior pics seem to exist.

In its days as an Odeon Theatre, the exterior façade included a cantilevered marquee which was removed in the late-1970’s. The film “Earthquake” played here in full Sensurround and “Titanic” had a long run here (although the sound quality was quite poor). The Odeon lives on as a movie theatre, only in memory now.

Contributed by esb

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

rivest266
rivest266 on December 21, 2021 at 9:34 am

This opened as the Melrose Theatre on November 14th, 1941 and renamed Odeon on August 22nd, 1951, and renamed Gateway on November 21st, 1986, and closed on March 2nd, 2003. Grand opening ads posted.

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