Famous Players closed the Coronet on February 26, 1989 with a final showing of “Three Fugitives” (which moved over to the Capitol 6 after this). No listings were provided for the Coronet in the Times Colonist movie listings after this date, so this is the correct date for the closure.
The Dominion was demolished during December 1966 and January 1967 to make way for a parking lot and the expansion of the renamed Haida Theatre next door.
The North Hill opened on December 21, 1967 as part of National General Cinemas in partnership with Famous Players. It joined Canadian Theatres in 1973, then went to Canadian Odeon in 1978 with the merger of Canadian Theatres and Odeon Theatres (Canada) and then went to Cineplex Odeon in 1984 with the merger of Cineplex and Canadian Odeon.
The Odeon Ladysmith closed following its final show on October 5, 1957 (which fell on a Saturday) with a double bill of the films “Doctor at Large” and “The Ride Back”.
Reopened in another part of Woodgrove Centre by Landmark on November 24, 1999 as the eight-screen Avalon Cinema Centre with the featured films below, while the original three-screen Avalon Cinemas (originally the Woodgrove Cinemas) were renovated for additional retail.
The Tillicum Drive-In (as it came to be known in its later years) was closed by Famous Players on November 11, 1979 with a final dusk-to-dawn movie marathon, with the features shown below:
The rear of the Hollywood auditorium space has been turned into a lounge area with bars on both sides of the lounge, while what had been the balcony section has also been turned into an upper lounge area with a bar as well. Most notably, in the main seating area, some of the seats have been turned to face toward the rear, which defeats the purpose of being able to face the screen when movies are playing.
Wrong Paradise Theatre. The one shown above is the one that later became the Coronet and then part of the Granville 7. This is not the same Paradise that was previously the Studio, Eve, Lyric and Towne.
This “other” Starlite Drive-In mentioned by Mike Rivest is actually the same Starlite Drive-In, which was always located at Departure Bay Road at Norwell Drive. The Cassidy Drive-In was actually located on the Trans-Canada Highway in Cassidy, which is well south of Nanaimo and closer to Ladysmith.
According to the two articles below, the Paramount was closed by Landmark on April 17, 2019, then was bought by the Kelson Group and reopened on June 14, 2019:
The Paramount is no longer part of Landmark Cinemas, as the Kelson Group bought the theatre from Landmark in the spring of 2019 and currently leases it to the Kamloops Film Society. Its current website is at the link below:
New photo in the photo section showing the new Landmark Cinemas signage, which was added in November 2019. As of that date, this theatre is now the Landmark Cinemas Paramount (which is now also the last theatre in the Landmark chain to bear the Paramount name).
This looks like it had the same architectural design as the now-demolished Roxy Theatre in Regina. According to Mike Rivest’s site, it was originally the Deluxe Theatre when it opened on December 11, 1936, then it became the Hyland in 1966 when Odeon took it over and ran it until it closed in 1983.
The Roxy was once part of the Odeon Theatres (Canada) circuit through its regional partner Odeon-Morton Theatres in its later years. It has long since been demolished since its closure, as a Google Maps search in the area of 12th and South Broad turned up no sign of the former theatre.
Since this article wasn’t updated per the info I gave in previous posts, here’s further proof that the original Star Cinema has been demolished – this article reporting the theatre’s demolition in February 2020:
It used to do video rentals, but that former space was converted to a second screen with stadium seating in December 2018. The stadium seating screen (which seats 46) can be seen in the photo section. Combined with the 111 seats in the original theatre, the Golden Cinema now has a total of 157 seats between the two screens.
Famous Players closed the Coronet on February 26, 1989 with a final showing of “Three Fugitives” (which moved over to the Capitol 6 after this). No listings were provided for the Coronet in the Times Colonist movie listings after this date, so this is the correct date for the closure.
The Dominion was demolished during December 1966 and January 1967 to make way for a parking lot and the expansion of the renamed Haida Theatre next door.
The North Hill opened on December 21, 1967 as part of National General Cinemas in partnership with Famous Players. It joined Canadian Theatres in 1973, then went to Canadian Odeon in 1978 with the merger of Canadian Theatres and Odeon Theatres (Canada) and then went to Cineplex Odeon in 1984 with the merger of Cineplex and Canadian Odeon.
The Odeon Ladysmith closed following its final show on October 5, 1957 (which fell on a Saturday) with a double bill of the films “Doctor at Large” and “The Ride Back”.
The Capitol showed its last movie on January 9, 1982 (which fell on a Saturday) when it played “True Confessions”:
The Oak Bay Theatre closed on February 6, 1986 following a final showing of “The Shooting Party”:
Reopened in another part of Woodgrove Centre by Landmark on November 24, 1999 as the eight-screen Avalon Cinema Centre with the featured films below, while the original three-screen Avalon Cinemas (originally the Woodgrove Cinemas) were renovated for additional retail.
Famous Players closed the Woodgrove Cinemas on October 1, 1992 as detailed in this Nanaimo Daily Free Press article from the following day:
The Fiesta was closed by Famous Players on March 1, 1992, with its final shows featured below:
The Tillicum Drive-In (as it came to be known in its later years) was closed by Famous Players on November 11, 1979 with a final dusk-to-dawn movie marathon, with the features shown below:
New photo added in the photo section, showing the Coronet shortly after its 1989 closure.
The rear of the Hollywood auditorium space has been turned into a lounge area with bars on both sides of the lounge, while what had been the balcony section has also been turned into an upper lounge area with a bar as well. Most notably, in the main seating area, some of the seats have been turned to face toward the rear, which defeats the purpose of being able to face the screen when movies are playing.
As noted by CorusFTW, this was originally a Famous Players theatre under the Coliseum branding.
CorusFTW, it was a SilverCity theatre at one point.
Wrong Paradise Theatre. The one shown above is the one that later became the Coronet and then part of the Granville 7. This is not the same Paradise that was previously the Studio, Eve, Lyric and Towne.
This “other” Starlite Drive-In mentioned by Mike Rivest is actually the same Starlite Drive-In, which was always located at Departure Bay Road at Norwell Drive. The Cassidy Drive-In was actually located on the Trans-Canada Highway in Cassidy, which is well south of Nanaimo and closer to Ladysmith.
According to the two articles below, the Paramount was closed by Landmark on April 17, 2019, then was bought by the Kelson Group and reopened on June 14, 2019:
Kelson Group buys Paramount Theatre building in downtown Kamloops (April 11, 2019)
Paramount Theatre reopens this weekend with Kamloops Film Society at helm (June 13, 2019)
The Paramount is no longer part of Landmark Cinemas, as the Kelson Group bought the theatre from Landmark in the spring of 2019 and currently leases it to the Kamloops Film Society. Its current website is at the link below:
The Kamloops Film Society at the Paramount Theatre (info on the Kelson Group purchase can be found in its “About the KFS” section)
On that note, Movies (Independent) and Movies (Film Festivals) should also be added to the Functions section for the Paramount.
New photo in the photo section showing the new Landmark Cinemas signage, which was added in November 2019. As of that date, this theatre is now the Landmark Cinemas Paramount (which is now also the last theatre in the Landmark chain to bear the Paramount name).
This looks like it had the same architectural design as the now-demolished Roxy Theatre in Regina. According to Mike Rivest’s site, it was originally the Deluxe Theatre when it opened on December 11, 1936, then it became the Hyland in 1966 when Odeon took it over and ran it until it closed in 1983.
The Roxy was once part of the Odeon Theatres (Canada) circuit through its regional partner Odeon-Morton Theatres in its later years. It has long since been demolished since its closure, as a Google Maps search in the area of 12th and South Broad turned up no sign of the former theatre.
Since this article wasn’t updated per the info I gave in previous posts, here’s further proof that the original Star Cinema has been demolished – this article reporting the theatre’s demolition in February 2020:
Sidney’s Star Cinema reduced to rubble
On the basis of that article, this theatre’s status should now be updated to Demolished.
Based on Mike Rivest’s post above, the above ad for the Strand indicates that it was part of Famous Players in its later years.
[Famous Players Edmonton movie ads – December 30, 1978] (includes listing for the Strand)
Seating arrangement for the original screen in the Golden Cinema now uploaded to the photo section.
It used to do video rentals, but that former space was converted to a second screen with stadium seating in December 2018. The stadium seating screen (which seats 46) can be seen in the photo section. Combined with the 111 seats in the original theatre, the Golden Cinema now has a total of 157 seats between the two screens.