Winnipeg Theatre Closing
Several weeks ago when I saw Inception, I complained about the quality of the theatre in Garden City. Nevertheless, I was still a little surprised when I read on the Winnipeg Free Press website that the theatre will be closing for good this evening. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised: it was very quiet on the Tuesday night when I saw it, despite Cineplex’s “Telus Tuesday” deal. I guess I thought it would live on, because the affordable prices meant that whole families could go to see a movie and not break the bank. Garden City often played a foreign film in addition to a mainstream Hollywood film. I always wanted to go and see one of the foreign films they played, because they were always ones I’d never heard of before.
Winnipeg Free Press columnist Lindor Reynolds has written a column about the closing of the theatre. Even before I’d read her column, I’d decided to write my own little tribute to the theatre. Like her, the Garden City theatre was part of my childhood. I remember seeing The Lion King there not once, but twice. I was five years old at the time, and I thought this story about lions and other animals in Africa was magical. The next year, my family and I saw Pocahontas at Garden City. I didn’t like that one as much because I thought it was too dark and sad. But, perhaps most memorably, I saw Titanic at this theatre. At seven years old, I’d fallen under the spell of Titanic. I became obsessed with the story of the ship, the people on board, and its sinking. It was the famous story of arrogance gone wrong. I had to see the movie, and eventually, I saw it. I remember before I saw it, my dad once streamed a trailer for me off his lap top. We had dial-up internet back then, and it took over half an hour to buffer (or an entire episode of Rugrats, which is what I watched while I was waiting). When I finally saw Titanic at Garden City, it was the greatest movie I’d ever seen. For years, it was my favourite movie.
The theatre may soon be gone but the memories will last a lifetime.
SilverCity Polo Park opened when I was about nine years old. The first movie I saw at SilverCity was Snow Day. My mom didn’t like the high prices SilverCity charged, so for the first little bit, we rarely went. Instead we’d go to Garden City, where the prices were cheaper. Eventually the allure of stadium seating, and quality sound and picture won us over, and we began going to SilverCity regularly.
Garden City could not compare to SilverCity. The screen was tiny, the seats were uncomfortable, and the sound was terrible. But it did have the classic curtain that rose when the commercials started, which was a reminder of days long past. I’ll miss the theatre, because I have so many fond childhood memories of going there. I must wonder: with the public demanding huge multiplexes, what will happen to the rest of the smaller theatres here in the city? Globe Cinema, Towne Cinema 8, and the Cinematheque? How much longer will they be able to survive? I hope they stick around. As much as I like the multiplexes, I also love smaller, more intimate theatres. They’re also more affordable. Globe Cinema and the Cinematheque play movies that most other theatres in the city don’t.
Those of you who are lamenting the loss of this cinema probably are too young to remember the Metropolitan, Capitol, or even the Odeon (Walker) as cinemas. I no longer live in Winnipeg, but I also remember the Garrick being a large screen venue.
The Garden City cinema was always a small, uninspiring venue which was convenient for us who lived nearby, but it could never create the thrill of going to the pictures that the “big” cinemas could.
ps: I’m only in my early 30′s so I’m not “that” old.
@Mike G
Thanks for the comment! I’m 20, so sadly those theatres were before my time. I think going to a large older theatre to see a movie would really add to the experience. I love older buildings, and it’s a shame the big cinemas of years ago no longer exist, or exist as something other than a cinema.
I’ve lived blocks away from Garden City Cinemas all my life, so I can shed some light on why it’s closing. For the past 18 months or so, they’ve experimented with showing Bollywood films on one of the two screens, in an effort to cater to Garden City’s sizable Hindu population. They haven’t taken to it well, and neither has anyone else. The other screen almost always shows kids’ movies only. Additionally, they haven’t displayed the week’s movies on the sign in the parking lot for about a decade. Most of us in the neighbourhood have no problem migrating to Polo Park or Grant Park for first-run movies. Few will be sorry to see it go.
@Jess C
I think they’ve been experimenting with foreign movies for quite awhile, now. I know that they were attempting to bring in members of the Hindu and Filipino populations, but I was never sure how successful it was. I thought that it could also have been a result of declining revenue: first run prints are expensive, and if they only showed one, and a little-known foreign film on the other, they’d save money. Of course, that would have only been a successful move if they could get people to see the foreign film, and it sounds like that was not the case.
This isn’t a huge loss. That theatre wasn’t that great, and was in a boring area of Winnipeg. They only showed a bollywood-style movie or a kiddie movie. Personally I didn’t care for about 99% of what they were showing, and there is nothing else to do in the area before/after a movie.
I’d much rather go to Towne 8 or Globe to see new movies. If you guys don’t like multiplex theatres, then please do not go to them!! Every time you choose Polo Park over a smaller theatre you’re submitting to that WalMart style mentality of everything in the world becoming “CompuHyperGlobalMegaNet”. This city does not have to be just parking lots and megaplexes, let’s make this a pedestrian city not a parkade.
@Geoff Rein
Thanks for the comment! I enjoy going to Towne 8 or the Globe whenever possible, but unfortunately, bus service to my area is poor, so it makes it difficult for me to go to those theatres. I really believe that better public transportation would do this city good, because it always depresses me when beautiful old buildings are torn down to make way for parking lots. If we had great public transportation in all areas of the city, that people were willing to use, we wouldn’t need as many parking lots.
I was totally into Titanic too! Even before the movie came out!! I remember being in third grade basically insulting my teacher because I knew more than him when we discussed the topic. I saw the movie seven times at the cinema, and got a bootleg copy of the movie before it came out because I had a friend who worked at Paramount, and when it was finally released, I went to this grocery store that was open 24 hours to buy it. At that age, I was still into the ship, and then I turned my eyes to the hot Mr. Dicaprio! The movie has always remained on my top 50 list, and when it came to Patrick watching every movie on that list, I watched it with new eyes – it’s SUCH a feminist film! I love it on SO many levels now – more than I did when it was first released.
As for the topic of smaller theaters evaporating from the cinema scene…I think that these small, old single screen cinemas will become the new drive-ins. Few will remain, but they will be loved, and people who long for that intimate experience will go on a religious basis. I did a lot in high school when it came to midnight showings. Quite a few of these single screen cinemas remain in Portland, and they become iconic and cult like in away. I hope this is the last closing in your area!
@Janey
I never actually owned a copy of Titanic until the special edition DVD came out! But for years after it was released on video, I’d watch it every chance I got.
I don’t think we have any more single screen cinemas here in Winnipeg. Garden City was a two screen cinema, but the other older cinemas have a few more screens. Up until about two years ago we had a drive-in as well. I went a couple of times and it was always a lot of fun, though it was always a late night because they’d play two movies. I wish it was still open. I think there might still be a drive-in elsewhere in the province, though.