Snowdon Theatre (Montreal)

Snowdon Theatre marquee.

The Snowdon Theatre is an abandoned Streamline Moderne style cinema in Montreal, Canada, located on Décarie Boulevard in the neighbourhood of Snowdon. It was re-purposed as a mini-shopping center at one point, but currently boarded up due to a deteriorating roof.

History

The theater opened in February 1937 with a lavish art deco interior by designer Emmanuel Briffa, designer of the interior of the Rialto Theatre and 60 other cinemas in Canada.[1]

In 1950 the entrance facade was modified and a new marquee was added. In 1968 it showed X-rated movies. In 1972 it screened Charlie Chaplin films for approximately an entire year.[2] The cinema closed in 1982 and sat vacant for a number of years.[3] In 1990 the building was re-purposed as a small shopping center.[4] The 25,000 square foot interior was heavily modified and rebuilt by Rafid Louis and Emile Fattal, splitting the theater itself into two floors and sub-dividing the remaining space. As of at least 2013, most of the Snowdon theater's original wall and ceiling art deco remained intact on the second floor, where a gymnastics center operated for a number of years.

Uncertain future

The building's new vocation as retail shopping and offices ultimately failed, as by the late 1990's the majority of it was vacant.[5] Flexart Gymnastics, the last remaining tenant, was evicted in late 2013 due to deterioration and safety concerns with the building's roof.[6] The city of Montreal currently owns the building and has no plans to repair the roof or any other emergency renovations, and since shuttering it, has put the building's future into question.

In January 2016, the city of Montreal put the building up for sale. On March 26th 2016, a major fire on the second floor caused heavy damage to the building's roof, further casting doubt over whether it can be saved.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Le Théâtre Rialto, Centre d'histoire de Montréal (in French)
  2. ↑ Montreal Movie Theatre History
  3. ↑ Snowdon Theatre, Cinema Treasures
  4. ↑ http://coolopolis.blogspot.ca/2013/01/city-seeks-to-sell-snowdon-theatre.html
  5. ↑ http://www.taylornoakes.com/2016/03/26/three-alarm-fire-nearly-destroys-historic-snowdon-theatre/
  6. ↑ Flexart Gymnastics
  7. ↑ "Snowdon Theatre heavily damaged by afternoon fire". CBC News. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.

External links

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