Ottawa
| Name | Location | Dates | Screens | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport Drive-In | near Uplands Rd. | 1970–1995 | 3 | It opened on May 15, 1970 and closed around 1995. It had 3 screens and could hold approximately 1160 cars. It has been torn down and is now a national airport parking service lot. | |
| Aladdin Drive-In | 4004 Albion Rd. | 1949–1995 | 1 | It had room for approximately 480 cars. It is now an empty field. | |
| Empire Theatres Kanata | 801 Kanata Avenue Kanata, ON K2T 1E7 | 2001- | 24 | Constructed by AMC Theatres and sold to Empire Theatres in 2012. Empire Theatres Kanata is the largest cinema complex in Ottawa with 24 screens. | |
| Auto Sky Drive-In | Fisher and Baseline Rd. | 1949–1981 | After the drive-in closed, a housing development was built on the vacant land. | ||
| The Avalon | Bank Street in the Glebe | 1928–1956 | 1 | November 17, 1928-July 1947. The Avalon had 876 seats.
Renamed Glebe August 22, 1947-October 17, 1956. Now a hardware store. |
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| Barrhaven Cinemas Cineplex Odeon | 131 Riocan Avenue, Barrhaven ON, K2J 5G5 | 7 | Opened Oct. 21, 2005. | ||
| Bennett's Vaudeville Theatre | Sparks Street just west of Bank | 1 | In 1907, it became the first place in Ottawa to regularly show films. | ||
| Britannia Drive-In | Carling at Bayshore | 1949–1996 | 2 | It was the last Drive-In in Ottawa when it closed in 1996. The Coliseum is built on its location. | |
| Britannia 6 | 3090 Carling Ave. | 1977–1998 | 6 | The theatre and its parking lot were built on the land between the street and the back side of the screen for the Britannia Drive-In. The building was torn down after the Coliseum opened. | |
| Bytowne Cinema | 325 Rideau St. Ottawa, ON K1N 5Y4 just east of King Edward Avenue | 1947- | 1 | It opened in 1947 as the Nelson Cinema. Since 1988, it has been Ottawa's main venue for foreign and independent films. In 1999, the seats from the Capitol Square Cinemas were installed. | |
| Capitol Cinema | 90 Bank St. | 1920–1970 | 1 | Originally opened as Loews Theatre, the Capitol was Ottawa's largest and most ornate cinema for many decades. It opened in 1920 and was demolished in 1970. it had approximately 2,528 seats, the most ever for an Ottawa theatre. Live theatrical productions (e.g. A Midsummer Night's Dream) and live musical performances such as Louis Armstrong, the Who (Bootleg recording on October 15, 1969 is around), the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Jimi Hendrix and Cream (among many others) took place on its stage. Its auditorium was often used for political conventions. In 1964 there were plans to split it into 2 screens but this never happened. When the National Arts Centre was built, there was no longer any need for the Capitol's stage and auditorium to be used for live theatre or concerts. | |
| Capitol Square | 230 Queen Street | 1972–1999 | 3 | The Capitol Square 3 opened around 1972 and closed in 1999. It was operated by Famous Players. | |
| Coliseum Ottawa | 3090 Carling Avenue, Ottawa ON, K2B 7K2 | 1996- | 12 | Originally owned by Famous Players, this was Ottawa's first modern megaplex when it opened in 1996. | |
| Eastview Theatre | Montreal Road (on same site as the Vanier Cinema) | Closed as a cinema in the 1950s, the building was used as a post office and then as an electrical parts store until demolished in the 1960s to be replaced in the 1970s by the building that housed the Vanier Cinema. | |||
| Elgin Theatre | Elgin and Lisgar | 1937–1994 | 1, later 2 | The Elgin opened in 1937 and 10 years later, a second theatre named the Little Elgin was opened next to it in the same building. Before closing in 1994, the two theatres were called the Elgin 1 and Elgin 2. The Elgin/Little Elgin was the first twin movie theatre in Canada. | |
| Elmdale Theatre | Wellington Street in Westboro | 1947–1994 | 1 | It opened on September 9, 1947 and was twinned (bowling-alley style) on October 23, 1981. It closed on August 25, 1994. It is now a church of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World congregation. | |
| Empire 7 | World Exchange Plaza 111 Albert Street, 3rd Floor, Ottawa, ON K1P 1A5 | 1990- | 7 | Opened 1991, Expanded 1994. Plays a mix of main stream and independent films. | |
| Français Theatre | On the West side of Dalhousie Street between George Street and York Street. | R. E. Maynard owned the Français, which had 999 seats. It was very popular with the kids during Saturday afternoon performances. They called the theatre “Frog”. It served as Ottawa's French language cinema until the 1960s when it was closed for repairs for many years and eventually demolished to make way for the construction of a Holiday Inn. | |||
| Gloucester Five | Gloucester Centre, 1980 Ogilvie Road | Closed in late March 2001. | 5 | Each of this cinema's auditoriums was named instead of numbered. According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen of March 21, 2001, the Gloucester Five's closure was largely due to its proximity to Silvercity Gloucester. | |
| Imperial Theatre | Bank Street | 1914-1950s | Is today home to Barrymore's. | ||
| Linden Theatre | Beechwood Avenue near Creighton Street. | Became the Towne Cinema in the 1970s and was eventually converted into a sports equipment store and then a drug store. For 25 cents on weekends, one could see five movies (usually horror, comedy or western). | |||
| Mall Theatre | 116 Sparks Street | 1915–1973 | 1 | Originally The Centre Theatre which had 998 seats. It had no stairs to reach the upper seats, just ramps. During the second World War, a royal box was set up for Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, which was occupied by Nazi Germany. In June 1968 the theatre was renamed Mall and shown adult movies. | |
| Mayfair Theatre | Bank St. in Old Ottawa South | 1932- | 1 | Today it is Ottawa's premier venue for second run films. It has gradually phased out its repertoire programming over the years, but still continues its tradition of screening the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show every Halloween. | |
| Mayfair Theatre Orleans | 250 Centrum Blvd, Orleans | 2011- | 3 | Opened December 2011; the facility was originally the Empire Six Orleans. | |
| Odeon Theatre | on West side of Bank Street between Slater Street and Laurier Avenue. | A coal gas explosion in an office building behind the Odeon happened on October 25, 1958 killing 2 and destroying the back end of the theatre only hours before the cinema was to have been filled with Ottawa children for a Saturday morning of films for school safety patrols. As many as 600 could be killed had this been a working day. | |||
| Phoenix | 413 Bank Street | Closed in 1991 | 1 | Operated by Cineplex Odeon, this theatre specialized in foreign films such as La historia official. The theatre was demolished shortly after it closed, and has been a gravel parking lot ever since (see Rialto listing below). Also known as Clarey and Fern. | |
| Place de Ville | Place de Ville's underground shopping complex | 1971–1996 | 2 | Operated by Famous Players. According to an Ottawa Citizen article of August 14, 1999, these theatres still exist but remain empty and unused. This fall (2010) the former cinema space will be occupied by an exhibition company and public exhibits such as the Titanic and Body works will be on display. | |
| Queensway Drive-In | Rainbow St. and Montreal Rd. | 1964-c. 1985 | 2 | Operated by Odeon. Now the site of an industrial park. | |
| Rainbow Cinemas | St. Laurent Shopping Centre | 1967- | 5 | A second run theater in the St. Laurent Shopping Centre. This five-screen cinema, originally opened as a single screen cinema, known as the St. Laurent Theatre, opened in 1967 and was a first run cinema. It was later converted to two screens and later to five screens, by taking over unoccupied space in the St. Laurent Shopping Centre. It was closed in 2001 and reopened as the Rainbow in 2005. | |
| Regent Theatre | Bank and Sparks | 1916–1972 | 1 | Currently the site of the Bank of Canada complex. In 1928 became the first theatre in Ottawa to play films with sound. It had 1056 seats. | |
| Rexy Theatre | 136 Lorne St. / 777 Somerset St. W. | Closed | Opened as the Rex Theatre in 1914, in one of Ottawa's blue-collar neighbourhoods west of downtown, this theatre had the unusual distinction of being located on a residential side street.
Originally a small 300-seat nickelodeon, in 1927 it was renamed Rexy Theatre and completely remodelled into an atmospheric theatre. Seating was then expanded to 750 and a new front entrance was added on the main Somerset Street West, through the purchase of a retail space in an adjacent building. It catered to the neighbourhood with B-movies and kids' serials until TV took its toll. The Rexy Theatre closed in 1954 and was demolished in 1956. The entrance was moved to 777 Somerset West in 1925. |
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| Rialto | 413 Bank Street | 1943–1991 | 1 | Opened by Odeon Theatres. Through the 1970s it fell into hard times, and was known colloquially as "the Rat Hole" due to a rodent infestation. It was purchased by Cineplex Odeon, renamed "The Phoenix," closed and quickly demolished in 1991. At the time of writing (2009) it is still an empty lot on Bank Street. | |
| Rideau Centre | Rideau Centre | 1983- | 3 | Originally owned by Famous Players and today run by Empire this theatre is located on the top level of the Rideau Centre, and programmes movies aimed at the teenage demographic. | |
| Rideau Theatre | 160 Rideau St. | 1915–1982 | 1 | Located on Rideau Street immediately to the west of where Dalhousie St. once ended. The building still stands and is divided into various retail stores. The long rectangular lobby of the Rideau Theatre was originally the Palace Theatre. The Palace Theatre became the lobby of the Rideau Theatre when a new auditorium was built behind the original Palace Theatre. | |
| SilverCity Gloucester | 2385 City Park Drive, Gloucester ON, K1J 1G1 | 16 | Located in the city's east end this modern megaplex has 16 screens including one IMAX cinema and two Real D "3-D" projectors. One of Canada's busiest theatres by attendance. Owned and operated by Cineplex LP. | ||
| Somerset Theatre | 386 Somerset St. west of Bank St. | 1937–2000 | 1 | It was demolished soon after to accommodate an expansion of a supermarket and its parking complex. | |
| South Keys | 2214 Bank Street, Ottawa ON, K1V 1J6 | 1995- | 12 | A modern multiplex built by Cineplex Odeon in the city's south end. This is the first theatre in the Ottawa with Stadium seating; This is the only multiplex cinema in Canada that show movies from 10 AM every day. | |
| Star-Top Drive-In | 1400 Cyrville Rd | 1949–1975 | Opened in 1951 on Cyrville Road. It closed in 1974. | ||
| Strand Theatre | 1265 Bank St | 1950–1954 | 1 | After closing it became a bingo parlour, which was demolished in 2002 and replaced by a donut shoppe. AKA Flower Theatre | |
| Vanier Cinema | Vanier | 7 | This Cineplex Odeon theatre was located in a small shopping mall. It was a second-run theatre before closing in the mid 1990s. | ||
| Westboro Theatre | 381 Richmond Rd | Now home to the Chinese Bible Church. | |||
| Westgate Cinema | Carling Ave | 1980–1999 | 3 | The theatre showed first run movies for most of its existence and second run movies for two dollars before it closed in 1999. Currently occupied by a software development company that still uses one of the cinemas for meetings and presentations. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Ottawa-Gatineau Cinemas