The Runnymede Theatre is a historic building located in

Bloor West Village Bloor West Village is a residential neighbourhood and shopping district in Toronto, Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada b ...

, an affluent west end

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

neighbourhood. The building has operated as a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

theatre, a movie theatre, a bingo hall, and a

Chapters Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

bookstore. The building is now a

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (colloquially Shoppers; named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist ...

History

Commonly known as the "Runny", the Runnymede was built by the Capitol (later

Famous Players Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous film, movie theatre ...

) as an atmospheric

theatre, the first of this type in Toronto. It officially opened in June 1927. The building was designed by Alfred Chapman, father of Chris Chapman, an accomplished Toronto filmmaker. Known for its music and stage shows, the large 1400-seat theatre, branded "Canada's Theatre Beautiful", quickly became popular and brought prestige to the west end of the city. As an

atmospheric theatre An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, archit ...

, the interior of the Runnymede was designed to transport its guests to an exotic place. The painted blue sky ceiling was adorned with clouds, where a complex lighting system projected an array of stars and airplanes. The walls were decorated with a mural, which produced an illusion of being in a courtyard. The building discontinued to be used for plays and live entertainment with the gradual death of vaudeville, and was subsequently converted to a movie theatre in the late 1930s. In the early 1970s, the building became a bingo hall in order to capitalize on bingo's popularity. In 1980, the building reopened as a movie theatre again, featuring two screens. In 1990, the building was designated as a heritage property under the ''

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Canadian Province of Ontario, as being of cultural heritage ...

''. The movie theatre closed in February 1999 and ''

You've Got Mail ''You've Got Mail'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan alongside Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton, Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, and Greg Kinnear. Inspired by the 1937 Hungarian ...

'' was the last film that was shown. Later that year, the building reopened as a

bookstore, which closed in February 2014. In April 2015, the building reopened as a

References

External links

Cinema Treasures
{{Coord, 43.650730, N, 79.476530, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Former cinemas in Toronto Theatres in Toronto Atmospheric theatres Chapman and Oxley buildings

History

See also

References

External links