![]() ![]() The time was right for John Hausler to open the Westboro, which operated as a second-run movie house, using many gimmicks to lure crowds such as giveaways and “Foto-Nites.” For an appreciative group of local teens, the theatre was a staple of life. Development in the area was exploding, and the television was still years away. The Westboro Theatre opened in July 1941 to meet the entertainment demands of the rapidly growing population along the Britannia streetcar line. Photo courtesy of the City of Ottawa archives (LAC C80423) It was later converted to a car dealership, torn down in the mid-70s and replaced by the apartment building that remains in this spot today. It operated until 1958, later under the names Century Theatre (1948) and Towne Cinema (1954). The 800-seat theatre featured seats made by Dunlop Tire “which mould themselves to your figure” and “never heats, as each unit is self-ventilated.” This theatre was located next door to what is now Thyme and Again. It was destroyed in a terrific fire in March 1971.įurther up Wellington, the Victoria Theatre opened in December 1934 to serve the growing Wellington Village community. The theatre was eventually repurposed as the Roll-O-Bowl and later as an IGA. The Fathers of St-Francois Church would stand outside on Saturday afternoons, taking note of any young members of the parish going in and out misdemeanors which would be addressed on Sunday morning. Not everyone approved of going to the movies. It would change names to the Veteran (1920), Columbia (1923), and the Nola (1938), and stayed open until 1948. The Stirling was closed by 1915 (it became an auto garage) and The Strand closed in 1919, leaving the Cinema Theatre as Hintonburg’s long-time theatre. The area population couldn’t realistically sustain three theatres, so it was just a matter of time before they started closing their doors. It had an impressive seating capacity of 600, and at its opening, boasted of being the second theatre in Ottawa to utilize a “ticket seller,” a “clever machine purpose is to print plainly the date and price on every ticket.” Two months later, the Strand opened at the corner of Wellington and Garland where the LCBO stands today. It was a large brick building that reached almost all the way back to Armstrong Street. The 300-seat Cinema Theatre opened in September across from St. ![]() In 1914, two more theatres opened nearby in Hintonburg. Edison’s newest projector played the films with pianist accompaniment, and Ernest himself sang during the show. Though now a unique converted apartment house, part of this building started life as a silent movie theatre! Proprietor Ernest Elphick fitted up the “West End Theatre” and it was an impressive sight, both inside and out. As any long-time resident will tell you, the former Stirling Tavern has its share of stories to tell. On February 21, 1910, the first dedicated cinema opened in Hintonburg. The event of observing one for the first time must truly have been awesome. ![]() The arrival of moving pictures brought to life scenes from faraway places, reproduced with lifelike accuracy and fidelity. Photographs, even then still a novelty, were the only means of providing a view of the outside world. In Hintonburg, the town hall on Parkdale would occasionally feature a spectacle of moving picture films, a special treat for residents.Įven by 1910, it was estimated that less than 1% of people in the world were ever able to leave the country in which they were born. The first opened in Pittsburgh in 1905, Ottawa had its first a year later, and within just a few years there were thousands across North America. These theatres would show a series of short films for the price of a nickel. The novelty factor of moving pictures remained high, not only in Ottawa but throughout North America, where an outing to the nickelodeon became one of the most popular things to do during the first decade of the 1900s. Just weeks shy of actually being Canada’s first public exhibition of moving pictures, the presentations drew thousands of people to the amusement park. It attracted its first visitors with demonstrations of Thomas Edison’s “greatest marvel,” the Vitascope a large projector that uses light to cast images on to a screen. The Ottawa Electric Railway Company opened The West End Park – located between Harmer and Holland, just north of Ruskin – in July 1896. The story of ‘moving pictures’ in Kitchissippi began on Holland Avenue, on former farmland well before there were houses anywhere around. ![]()
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