Phoenix Theatre

413 Bank Street,
Ottawa, ON K2P

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DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 8, 2020 at 10:21 am

Clarey Theatre and Fern Theatre need to be added to previous names prior to Rialto. Address was 413 Bank Street, per 12/29/31 newspaper link above.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 6, 2020 at 10:14 pm

Link with Now & Then comparisons.

http://www.pastottawa.com/tag/rialto-theatre/453/?fbclid=IwAR130kWIxp47um4u5VcOuIMFzwx_3Z8rO8GjSzLqPDpjAMiNCbhyuqFAaYk

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 6, 2020 at 10:13 pm

Grand opening print ad.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19311229&id=8_MuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tNsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6198%2C577379&fbclid=IwAR3hw_bFIUfPIyjqdYS_Rbw2sibp3RBiJD250kl_QpJdbB6JJ13Roj_s4i0

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 6, 2020 at 10:13 pm

Address was 413 Bank Street, as subsequent print ad links will show. Full history courtesy The Ottawa Jewish Archives:

The Rialto Theater, 1931-1979 – 413 Bank St “The New Rialto Theater Opens Tonight! – An attractive and cozy little theater, a home for the talking pictures, is the Rialto, which opens to the public tonight with "Silence”, a Paramount Picture. Modern to the last degree, tastefully decorated and perfectly ventilated it will quickly command a wide and loyal following.“ So says the opening paragraph to a lengthy article in the December 30, 1931 edition of the Ottawa Citizen which discusses in detail the soft lighting, the rich draperies, the plush seats and even the "unusually spacious” projection room of the new theater on Bank St. The first theater on that spot was The Clarey which opened in 1914. After that came The Fern in 1919. In 1931 Abraham Levinson and J. Polowin turned it into the Rialto, and it was a beautiful and very upscale theater. They ran it with pride and hard work before passing on the reigns on to Abraham’s son Martin Levinson in 1936. As with many of the old venues though, it fell on troubled times as the decades went by and the building began to show wear. Eventually by the 1970’s the neighbourhood gave it the nickname of the “The Rat Hole” due to, well, an unfortunate infestation, and it was known as quite the grindhouse theater. In 1979 the Rialto was closed after 48 years, but officially reopened the next year as The Phoenix, owned by Cineplex. The Phoenix lasted until June of 1991 before it too was closed and the building was demolished. Despite its later reputation, the Rialto is remembered with great fondness by those who wanted a cheap night out with a good gore flick. Today, 314 Bank St. is a parking lot in between Staples and The Book Bazaar at Bank and Frank St.

Hugger1
Hugger1 on March 11, 2013 at 9:43 am

Address was 415 Bank St.

robinco
robinco on October 26, 2011 at 10:04 pm

(incidentally, the James St. Feed Company is on the opposite side of the street, so you need to rotate that google image if you see the pub/restaurant)

robinco
robinco on October 26, 2011 at 10:03 pm

There’s a pretty good website about old Ottawa which has a photo of the Rialto (which became the Phoenix, which closed). It was at Bank and Waverly:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_u2WcNSWdwE8/Sxck9XgR-fI/AAAAAAAACKI/Xkpj_MZCMgc/s1600-h/rialto.jpg

and this is what it looks like today, a vacant lot: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u2WcNSWdwE8/Sxckzbkc5oI/AAAAAAAACKA/tE97tq7yzIg/s400/PB290050.JPG

PeterinCrete
PeterinCrete on September 5, 2011 at 10:54 am

Hi, Finnegan9 –

Surely that was the Rex on Somerset & Lebreton – ? We lived further west (Elmdale)when I was a kid, but I remember going to the Rex a few times for golden oldies like MGM B-musicals on the bottom half of double bills.

The Rialto I remember well from when we lived nearby and then later, when I was at Carleton (old campus on First Avenue) – great triple bills and yes, it was sort of crummy, but the price was right.

robinco
robinco on June 18, 2011 at 1:54 pm

Well it is possible the Rialto was at a different location at one point but it was definitely on Bank Street when I was a kid.

Finnegan9
Finnegan9 on June 18, 2011 at 12:32 pm

There seems to be some confusion. The Rialto (or “Rathole”, as we kids called it) was located near the corner of Lebreton and Somerset Streets…I know; I used to live on Raymond and Lebreton streets, which is now under the Queensway. The Rialto had a balcony where us kids could carryon and clap when Wild Bill Elliott, Gener Autry and Roy Rogers chased the crooks every Saturday matinee. The serials gave us something to look forward to at an affordable price. I don’t recall much about the Phoenix; I think it was more expensive, but down the street was the Imperial Theatre, which was nice, but I believe it only had the one floor, no balcony. 4Wheatens

Silicon Sam
Silicon Sam on December 25, 2009 at 5:14 pm

Also the 1967 ad that LM posted says corner of Bank and Gladstone. That’s a good 1 to 2 blocks away.

If you go to that intersection, you see this…

View link

Sign on the building says Coming Soon to this Site, so it looks like the building is slated for demolishing? Any idea if this was a theater. Has the look of one.

Silicon Sam
Silicon Sam on December 25, 2009 at 3:48 pm

Looks like the space between Staples and the Book Bazaar is where the old theater was. Why is addressed as 403 Bank St when in the ACI picture above (4/5/2009) has an address of 415 and a street sign to the right of the building? At 403, the street sign would have been on the left side of the building as you face it.

touraine32
touraine32 on December 25, 2009 at 3:14 pm

My most vivid memory of the Rialto is buying a 25 cent hot dog, taking a bite and pulling a filthy piece of string out of my mouth.

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether the building is now standing. It is not. It was demolished.

robinco
robinco on June 15, 2009 at 1:14 pm

My one vague memory of the Rat Hole was one Saturday morning in the 1960s, watching a sequence of Three Stooges movies, knee deep in garbage, and some kid in front of us turning around and spitting at us. We probably took him outside and gave him a lesson he’d never forgot, but that might be a dream sequence…

But this theatre should be down as the Rialto, not the Phoenix. Nobody of any merit should remember the Phoenix.

Hugger1
Hugger1 on March 29, 2006 at 5:08 am

This movie house had a few names in it’s existence; The Rialto (we use to call it the Rat Hole, no explanation needed) being one and the Phoenix Theatre being another. During it’s days I attended as a kid we could see 3 top rate movies for 35 cents.

Hugger1
Hugger1 on March 28, 2006 at 8:46 am

NO………….the old theatre building was torn down and the space is still empty. The STAPLES building is the old Colonial Furniture location.

—Michelle / ShellLB said on Mar 18, 2005 at 3:16pm:
I currently live in Ottawa. The “PHOENIX” has been gone since the early 1990’s. The location is at 403 BANK STREET (between Waverley and Frank Street). The building is now owned and operated by STAPLES / Business Depot since about 1995.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on May 14, 2005 at 5:04 pm

I happened to visit this theatre once when touring Ottawa in August of 1983. That’s why I decided to post it. I went to see Eric Rohmer’s “Pauline at the Beach.” Sorry to hear the place is gone, but this is not a new story.

WALES1972
WALES1972 on March 18, 2005 at 3:16 pm

I currently live in Ottawa. The “PHOENIX” has been gone since the early 1990’s. The location is at 403 BANK STREET (between Waverley and Frank Street). The building is now owned and operated by STAPLES / Business Depot since about 1995.
—Michelle

edward
edward on April 17, 2004 at 1:12 pm

I lived in Ottawa from 1986-1992 and only remember the Rialto, The Sommerset, The Elgin, the Capitol Square 3, The Mayfair and The Bytowne. The Mayfair and Bytowne are still repertory theatres and the Rialto (demolished early 90’s) showed independent and foreign films.