List of Ottawa-Gatineau cinemas

This is a list of movie theatres that have existed in the Ottawa & Gatineau, Canada region.

Ottawa

*Airport Drive-In - This Drive-In, located near Uplands Rd. 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 parking lot.
*Aladdin Drive-In - Located at 4004 Albion Rd. This 1 screen Drive-In opened around 1949 and closed in 1995, it had room for approximately 480 cars. It is now an empty field.
*AMC Kanata - A modern megaplex in the western suburb of Kanata. Is the only AMC cinema in Ottawa and the largest theatre with 24 screens.
*Auto Sky Drive-In - Located at Fisher and Baseline Rd, it opened in 1949 and closed about 1981.
*The Avalon - Located on Bank Street in the Glebe it was open from 1928 until 1956.
*Barrhaven Cinemas Cineplex Odeon - A seven screen cinema in the southern suburb of Barrhaven
*Bennett's Vaudeville Theatre - Was located on Sparks Street just west of Bank. In 1907 became the first place in Ottawa to regularly show films.
*Britannia Drive-In - This 2 screen Drive-In opened in 1949. It was the last Drive-In in Ottawa when it closed in 1996. The Coliseum is built on its location.
*Bytowne Cinema - On Rideau Street just east of King Edward Avenue. This one screen cinema was opened in 1947 as the Nelson Cinema. Since 1988 been Ottawa's main venue for foreign and independent films.
*Capitol Cinema. Located at 90 Bank St. it originally opened as Loews Theatre and was Ottawa's largest and most ornate cinema for many decades. It opened in 1920 and was demolished in 1970.
*Capitol Square - Located in Place de Ville this three screen cinema was open from 1972 until 1999.
*Coliseum Ottawa - On Carling Avenue in the west end of the city. Originally owned by Famous Players this 12 screen theatre was Ottawa's first modern megaplex.
*Elgin Theatre. Opened in 1937, the Elgin was North America's first multiplex. It was closed in 1994.
*Elmdale Theatre. Located on Wellington Street in Westboro this theatre was in operation from 1947 to 1994. It is today home to a Church of God congregation.
*Empire 7 - Located in the World Exchange Plaza this seven theatre cinema plays a mix of main stream and independent films.
*Imperial Theatre - Opened in 1914 is today home to Barrymore's
*Mall Theatre - This theatre, located at 116 Sparks Street, was originally opened in 1915 as the Centre Theatre. It closed in 1973.
*Mayfair Theatre - Located on Bank Street in Old Ottawa South the Mayfair opened in 1932. 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.
*Queensway Drive-In - Located near Rainbow St. and Montreal Rd. This 2 screen Drive-In opened in 1964 and closed around 1985.
*Rainbow Cinemas - A second run theater in the St. Laurent Shopping Centre. This five screen cinema, originally known as the St. Laurent Theatre, opened in 1967 and was a first run cinema until it was closed in 2001. It reopened in 2005.
*Regent Theatre - Was located at Bank and Sparks, currently the site of the Bank of Canada complex. The Regent was open from 1916 to 1972. In 1928 became the first theatre in Ottawa to play films with sound.
*Rexy Theatre was located at 777 Somerset St. W.
*Rialto - Located at 413 Bank Street. The theatre opened in 1934 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 (2007) it is still an empty lot on Bank Street.
*Rideau Centre - Originally owned by Famous Players and today run by Empire this three screen theatre is located on the top level of the Rideau Centre. The original Rideau Theatre (opened 1915) had stood at what is now the southern side of the intersection of Rideau Street and Dalhousie Street. (Where Dalhousie St. once ended to the south at Rideau St., the building of the Rideau Centre in 1981 demolished buildings on the south side of Rideau St., extending Dalhousie one block beyond Rideau south to Besserer St.)
*SilverCity Gloucester - Located in the city's east end this modern megaplex has 16 screens
*Somerset Theatre - Located at 386 Somerset Street west of Bank Street the Somerset was opened in 1937 and closed in 2000. It was demolished soon after to accommodate an expansion of a supermarket and its parking complex.
*South Keys - A modern multiplex built by Cineplex Odeon in the city's south end.
*Star-Top Drive-In - Located at 1400 Cyrville Rd, it opened in 1949 and closed in 1975.
*Strand Theatre was located at 1265 Bank St.
*Westboro Theatre - Located at 381 Richmond Rd, it is now home to the Chinese Bible Church.
*Westgate Cinema - Opened in 1980. A three theatre cinema located on Carling Avenue in Ottawa's west end. The theatre showed first run movies for most of its existence and second run movies for two dollars before it closed in 1999.

Outaouais

*Cinema 9 - Opened in the mid 1990s, this 9-screen theater plays usually the French version of movies since StarCite in Hull was opened. Located at the corner of Boulevard Maloney & De l'Hopital beside the former City Hall of the old city of Gatineau.

*Cinema Place-Cartier 119 Place du Portage in Hull. Opened in 1937, it was the grandest cinema in the Outaouais. It was sold by Famous Players in 1968 and became an adult pornography theatre before it was purchased by the City of Hull in order to put it out of business in 1991.

*Cine-Starz Located inside Les Promenades de l'Outaouais shopping centre. Previously, a 4-screen Famous Players theater was located inside the shopping until the mid 1990s.

*Cinema Vendôme 425 Boul St Joseph in Hull. It was an exploitation grindhouse before closing in the early 1980s.

*Pussycat Cinema Directly across the street from the Vendôme, at 424 Boul St Joseph in Hull, this pornography cinema also closed at about the same time.

*Cinema l'Amour 569 Boul St Joseph in Hull. It was an adult pornography theatre before closing in the early 1980s.

*Cinema de Paris 185 rue Laval in Hull. An independent neighbourhood theatre, opened in 1949, that screened films from Europe in French only. In later years it screened mainstream Hollywood films dubbed into French, including the original Star Wars trilogy. It was shuttered in 1986 and stayed closed for ten years before reopening as an assisted living complex called Mon Chez Nous.

*Cine-Parc Templeton - Drive-through theater located at 1779 Boulevard Maloney near the Gatineau Airport in the city's east end. Opened in the early 1990's, it has 2 screens, one in French and the other in English.

*Galeries Aylmer - Located inside the Galeries d'Aylmer shopping center with 4 screens.

*Imax Located at the Canadian Museum of Civilization on Rue Laurier near the Alexandra Bridge.

*StarCité Hull - Opened in the late 1990s in Le Plateau. This 16-screen theater is the biggest on the Quebec side of the National Capital Region. It has a large arcade area called Tech Town. Located at on Boulevard du Plateau near the junction of Boulevard Saint-Raymond & De l'Outaouais. Formerly owned by Cineplex Entertainment, this theater was sold to Fortune Cinemas in 2006. [http://www.cinemasfortune.ca/en/theatre/theatre.php?cinema_id=7 StartCité in Hull]

References

*Miguelez, Alain. "A Theatre Near You: 150 Years of Going to the Show in Ottawa-Gatineau." Manotick, ON: Penumbra Press, 2004.
* [http://cinematreasures.org/location/country=31&state=69/ Cinema Treasures.org]