Hi Alicia,

It is great that St. Catharines has a new Film Theatre downtown at the PAC.  The last Theatre to show movies downtown was the Town Cinemas.  I remember seeing films there until it closed in 2004.  I’d like to know more about the history of this Theatre (e.g. any famous Vaudeville Acts, significant events, etc.).  It would be great if this Theatre could be restored.

Thanks for your assistance.

Regards,

Dan McKnight

Dan,

Great question! I still remember the first time my mother took me to that theatre when I was a young girl. We saw the film “Mermaids” starring Cher and Christina Ricci.  I still remember there being a wishing well with goldfish in the front lobby.

The theatre you are speaking of was located at 280 St. Paul Street in St. Catharines. It has gone by three different names beginning with “The Griffin”.  Construction on The Griffin Theatre began in 1913 and opened on May 6^th, 1915. The Theatre had 1, 346 seats, including a 346 seat balcony that was removed in 1934. It was owned by John Griffin, the largest theatre chain owner in Canada at the time.  On opening day, the feature presentation was the classic Charlie Chaplin silent film “The Tramp” that was played from a hand cranked projector.  This was the fist time that this film was shown in Canada.  When the equipment was upgraded, the original projector sat on display in the lobby.

The Griffin featured many films which were accompanied by a live piano player and/or orchestra. There were also live stage shows including vaudeville acts along with orchestras, symphonies, minstrel groups, plays, novelty dance performances, ballet groups and comedians. They also had rather interesting events such as in 1928 they held as the Long Hair Contest held in 1928, where the winner was awarded $25.00

A historic event occurred on June 12, 1918 when 4 reels of film caught fire. It took firemen 4 chemical fire extinguishers to put out the blaze, but the orchestra continued to play through the incident, assisting in dispelling any chaos that may have broken out among guests.

In 1941 the building was renovated and reopened that October with great fanfare as “The Palace Theatre”. The Palace was inaugurated with a presentation by the Niagara Symphony and remained a local hot spot for many years.

Throughout the 1940’s various events were held to help raise money for the war effort.  In 1964 The Palace was over-taken by a stampede of teenage girls rushing to see a screening of a Beatles concert.  For the premiere of “A Hard Day’s Night” there was a lineup of over 1, 000 teenagers hoping to get a seat for the show.

In 1973 a fire destroyed the back room of the theater. The fire proof retaining wall prevented the entire theatre from burning to the ground. On May 6^th, 1973, the Palace ran its last feature before closing its doors for extensive renovations.

The building was re-opened on August 2, 1973 as the Town Cinema, owned by Canadian theatres, which included two auditoriums to enable the screening of two features at a time. Just twelve hours later the fire department was called to a 3-alarm fire that had started in the rear of the building.  Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze and luckily there was minimal damage to the theatre auditoriums, however the rear section which was still in its original condition, was destroyed.  The cinema reopened after a brief closure.  There were no longer live performances held at the theatre.

n 1976 Canadian Theatres opened Pendale Cinemas which grew to include the Odeon theatre chain, which was eventually bought by Cineplex in 1984. Ultimately Cineplex Odeon leased the building, however they ended their lease in 1992 when the Fairview Mall Theatre was opened. The opening of the new theatre featured Ron Howard’s 1991 hit “Backdraft”.

The property had changed hands a few times over the years but in 1993 Art and Bette Lefstein purchased the Town cinema with hopes of restoring the theatres presence in the downtown core. They began by screening second-run Hollywood movies.  Various newspaper articles tracked their progress and discussed the sky-high expenses that came along with operating a theatre, including the $20, 000 a year property tax and average $2, 000 per month electricity costs.  The Lefstein’s also sought investors to help them convert the theatre to include a live stage as it had once been: “Our ultimate dream is to provide a performing arts facility for the community to use, to revitalize downtown.”

In 1999 the Lefstein’s began a “Support the Griffin Opera House (Circa 1915)” campaign to rally assistance with preservation of the theatre. Piles of letters from citizens, historical societies, and community groups poured in, to no avail.

Unfortunately, after years of struggling to restore the former glory that once was The Griffin, the Lefstein’s were forced to close in November of 2004. The facility was later used as a space for amateur bands to have live performances, however it has fallen into disrepair and has been sitting vacant for many years. The Lefstein’s are still hoping to find a buyer who will be able to restore the building.