Regent Theatre
Sparks Street,
Ottawa,
ON
K1P
Sparks Street,
Ottawa,
ON
K1P
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Allen Theatres, Famous Players
Architects: Morton James Coulson
Styles: Beaux-Arts
Nearby Theaters
Opened in September 1915, the Regent Theatre was taken over by the Allen Theatres chain on May 20, 1918. It became one of downtown Ottawa’s favourite theatres by playing the most popular films on a first-run basis in addition to all the Disney movies for kids. It was used as Famous Players' Canadian flagship theatre throughout the 1920’s: movies would open at Ottawa’s Regent Theatre before opening anywhere else in the country.
It had the steepest balcony in Canada, a tiny lobby with a wooden vending machine, and a three-sided marquee that wrapped around and above the entrance doors at the corner of Bank and Sparks Streets.
In 1972 the Regent Theatre was closed and was torn down to accommodate the expansion of the Bank of Canada. Its last movie was Walt Disney’s “Lady and the Tramp”.
Contributed by
Alain Miguelez
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
One of the classiest places around in it’s day, along with the Capital.
The entry for Morton James Coulson in the 1956 American Architects Directory lists a 1950 remodeling of the Regent Theatre in Ottawa, Canada, among his principal works.
I remember The Regent well. I went weekly from 1966 thru to the end in 1972. Very classy as Hugger1 says. However, the photo above shows the corner of Sparks and Kent, and as your comments say, the Regent was for sure a the corner of Bank Street and the Sparks Street Mall. The Mall closing to vehicle traffic in the summer of 1966, the year I arrived from Alexandria ( with one theatre ) to Ottawa which had about 8 or 9 at least. A great time for movies and the theatres were always filled. Ah, memories.
An article about the Regent appeared in The Moving Picture World of August 28, 1915. The target date for the opening of the house, then under construction, was September 15.