Canadian Museum of History

The Canadian Museum of Civilization, located just across the river from Ottawa, Canada’s capital, was opened on June 29, 1989 and currently has two theatres.

The first was opened with the museum in 1989. It has a seating capacity of 500, and is equipped with two Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 projectors capable of projecting 70mm with 6-track magnetic audio. The theatre’s speakers are properly laid out to reproduce the five front channels and one surround channel present on most early 70mm prints. This theatre is also used for live performances and lectures. This is one of the last theatres left in Canada that is able to project 5-perf 70mm film.

The second theatre is an IMAX theatre, also opened in 1989. It has a seating capacity of 295, and is one of the only IMAX theatres that is equipped with both a flat screen and a dome, which are used interchangeably depending on the film. This theatre was originally equipped with an IMAX GT projector, but was later equipped with two IMAX SR projectors for 3D films. In 2016 the IMAX projectors were replaced with a Barco projector and the screen was renamed Cine+.

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

Spire on March 11, 2012 at 9:38 pm

I’ve uploaded nine photos I took of the place when I was there in September 2010 for the Lost Dominion 70mm film festival. Among the films shown were Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, Vertigo, and one of the last known 70mm prints of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They’re planning on doing it again later this year, fingers crossed…

Spectrum Entertainment on October 21, 2021 at 7:20 am

In 2013, the museum’s name changed to the Canadian Museum of History. Also, in 2016, they changed the IMAX projector to a digital Barco one. As such, that theatre was renamed CINE+.

Spire on October 8, 2024 at 7:30 pm

This listing on Cinema Treasures should be called “Canadian Museum of History”, as CINE+ is only the name of one of the theatres contained within the museum, not the other one, which all of the photos refer to.