Park Royal Theatres
1086 Park Royal S,
West Vancouver,
BC
V7T 2Y5
1086 Park Royal S,
West Vancouver,
BC
V7T 2Y5
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Caprice Showcase Theatres, Famous Players
Architects: Ross Ritchie
Firms: Townley & Matheson
Previous Names: Park Royal Twin Theatres
Nearby Theaters
-
West Vancouver Cinemas
-
Hollyburn Theatre
-
Lions Drive-In
-
Cineplex Cinemas Esplanade
-
Denman Place Cinema
News About This Theater
- Mar 2, 2010 — Happy 45th, "The Sound Of Music"
- Dec 24, 2008 — Remembering Cinerama (Part 17: Vancouver)
Possibly the first 70mm cinema in the Vancouver area, the Park Royal Twin Theatres opened January 6, 1966 with Paul Ford in “Never Too Late” & La Scala Opera Company in “La Boheme”. Screen 1 (760 seats) was twinned in 1980 and the whole complex was converted to 35mm-only projection. Screen 3 opened on April 3, 1980.
Famous Players closed the Park Royal Theatres in the early-1990’s, and the theatre sat empty for several years, until the second-run Caprice Showcase Theatres chain took it over. Caprice went bankrupt in 1999 and for a short period of time the theatre was operated by the Park Royal Mall management but it was closed to the public later that year.
The final use of the theatres was as a recording studio and audio-post facility, until the owners decided to tear it down and extend the mall in 2003.
Contributed by
Ian Frealey
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
I’ve always found it amazing that after all these years, the north shore has not had a modern multiplex with stadium seating and all the bells and whistles. I like the Esplanade and Park & Tilford but would have thought that there would have been a SilverCity type theatre long before this.
Having grown up in North Vancouver, this is the theater I went to the most (there was no movie theater in North Vancouver until Park & Tilford opened). I saw most of the Disney classics at this theater, including ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Bambi’, ‘Pinocchio’, ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘The Aristocats’ here, in addition to such 80s classics as ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, ‘Gremlins’, and ‘Superman II’. I was disgusted by Park Royal Management’s decision to demolish this theater & the bowling alley next to it, to replace them with ugly ‘big box’ stores – some of which lasted only a short time!
The cost of the land is probably what’s holding back any new multiplex builds. Cineplex I heard wants to open a new complex in West Vancouver.
Esplanade IMO, the bottom level at least, could be converted to stadium seating with some effort. They would lose a lot of seats but it could be done.
January 5th, 1966 grand opening ad has been uploaded in the photo section.
Better quality grand opening ad (zoomable)
Park Royal Theatre and Cinema Wed, Jan 5, 1966 – 22 · The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) · Newspapers.com
3 screens opening on April 3rd, 1980. Small ad posted.
The clipping rivest266 linked to says that the Park Royal Twin Theatres were designed by architect Ross Ritchie of Townley, Matheson & Associates.
I uploaded a photo of the Park Royal Cinema exterior in 1997. I hope nobody minds.
If anybody has better quality photos or photos of the interior, I would greatly appreciate it.
1966 pictures posted. It came from What’s New? (May 1966) page 10 by Famous Players Canada, Ltd.
Thanks for the picture of Park Royal Theatre’s interior. I never thought I would see it. Funny enough I saw a video on West Edmonton Mall’s movie theatres and the guy said pictures were not taken of the older theatres because it was pre-smartphone age. Park Royal Theatres came to mind.