The Snowdon Theatre was a

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

style cinema in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, located on

Decarie Boulevard Autoroute 15 (also called the Décarie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Décarie (French) between the Turcot and Décarie Interchanges in Montreal and the Laurentian Autoroute (English) or Autoroute des Laurentides (French) north of Autorout ...

in the neighbourhood of

Snowdon Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic ...

. For 45 years it operated as a movie theater for films. After the theater closed, it was re-purposed as mini-shopping center with gymnastics studio, the latter of which had preserved former theater's lavish art deco interior. In 2019, following years of abandonment and neglect, it was demolished, with only its exterior facade left (heavily modified) as a decorative front for newly constructed condominiums.

History

The theater opened in February 1937 with a lavish art deco interior by designer

Emmanuel Briffa Emmanuel Briffa (September 4, 1875 – 1955) was a Maltese Canadian theatre decorator whose career in North America spanned thirty years, starting in 1912. Devoted almost entirely to theatre decoration since immigrating to North America from ...

, designer of the interior of the Rialto Theatre and 60 other cinemas in Canada. In 1950 the entrance facade was modified and a new marquee was added. In 1968 it showed X-rated movies. In 1972 it screened

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

films for approximately an entire year. The cinema, after 45 years of showing films, closed in May 1982 and was left vacant. In 1990 it was re-purposed as a small shopping center. The 25,000 square foot interior was rebuilt by Rafid Louis and Emile Fattal, splitting the theater into two floors and sub-dividing the remaining space. The theater's original wall and ceiling art deco remained intact on the second floor, where a gymnastics center operated for a number of years. In 2013 the building was vacant again, then boarded up and left abandoned.

Demolition

The building was not a success with its retail shopping and offices and by the late 1990s was mostly vacant. Flexart Gymnastics, the last tenant, was evicted in late 2013 due to safety concerns with the building's roof. In January 2016, the city of Montreal, who owned the building, put it up for sale. On March 26, 2016 a fire on the second floor caused heavy damage to the roof. On May 4, 2017, the city found a buyer, who planned to demolish it for either a commercial or residential building project. The sale went through on February 3, 2018 for $1.6 million, with the only condition that the building's exterior front facade and sign be preserved. In April 2019, the building was completely demolished, with only the front façade wall left standing and attached marquee (that had been modified in the late 80's with a French descriptor). As of April 2021, the condominiums are under construction and its remaining facade heavily modified.

References

External links

Photographs of surviving art deco elements at the Snowdon TheaterPhotography Snowdon Theater 2015
{{coord, 45.48499, N, 73.63112, W, display=title Theatres in Montreal Landmarks in Montreal Former cinemas in Montreal Streamline Moderne architecture in Canada Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Burned buildings and structures in Canada