Mayfair Cinema will carry on!

Mille Sabords · #1 Posted: **Nov 19, 2008, 4:24 PM**

A rare piece of good news when it comes to these things. I've personally seen so many of these old neighbourhood cinemas wastefully and wilfully closed by major companies that have no idea anymore what to do to survive.
The Mayfair Theatre is the oldest surviving atmospheric cinema in Ottawa and the best preserved in all of Canada - it's astonishingly intact from its original days in 1932. Score a victory for Old Ottawa South here. With the new owners it will be a much more interesting place film-wise (although there were all-night music and VJ events there for a while after the last movie).

Anyway -

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Curtain to rise on new Mayfair
Partners plan 'state-of-the-art' upgrades to theatre
Don Butler Canwest News Service
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

OTTAWA - Facing closing at the end of the month, the Mayfair Theatre has found new life thanks to a self-described "dream team of film-loving investors" with ambitious plans that could even include serving alcohol to film-goers.

The partners -- John Yemen, a film scholar and entrepreneur, Paul Gordon, the Mayfair's current film conservator and part-time projectionist, and filmmakers Lee Demarbre and Ian Driscoll -- will announce Tuesday that they have leased the 76-year-old Bank Street cinema for 10 years from its Vancouver owner, Stephen Ng.

The Mayfair will close in December while they refresh the interior and make technical improvements. They plan to reopen with a party and open house on Jan. 2, 2009.

"It's going to be state of the art by the time we open it," Mr. Demarbre said in an interview. Among other things, his group plans to install Dolby digital sound and replace the sagging seats. "We want people to be comfortable at the Mayfair," he said.

Word trickled out in August that Mr. Ng had balked at the cost of needed upgrades and planned to close Ottawa's oldest surviving movie theatre Nov. 30.

Almost immediately, supporters mobilized to save the theatre, built in 1932. On Oct. 8, city council voted to designate the Mayfair a heritage building, citing its painted ceilings, ornate plaster façades, faux balconies, wrought ironwork and ornamental glass windows.

The heritage designation was key to his group's ability to lease the theatre, Mr. Demarbre said. "There were apparently people interested in putting condominiums there. We couldn't compete with that kind of money."

Despite "big money pressure" for redevelopment on the site, Mr. Demarbre said Mr. Ng is happy the Mayfair will survive. "His desire was to have someone come and run it as a cinema," he said.

Mr. Demarbre's group will scrap the Mayfair's strategy of showing second-run commercial films in favour of more eclectic programming -- everything from art house, foreign and Canadian films to midnight screenings and festivals.

The only Ottawa theatre showing similar fare is the Bytowne, a thriving repertory cinema on Rideau Street. "We'd be interested in bringing those types of movies to the south end of Ottawa," Mr. Demarbre said.

The Bytowne's owner, Bruce White, is considered the best programmer in Canada, he said. "I don't think Bruce has anything to worry about from the Mayfair. If anyone can appreciate friendly competition, it's Bruce White."

Mr. Demarbre fondly recalls watching Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo's action classic, The Killer, at the Mayfair. "You'd bring popguns and run up and down the aisle and shoot at each other."

In recent years, the Mayfair has gotten away from such inspired mayhem, he said. "I'm surprised at the kind of movies they're showing. It's very commercial, stuff you can go see at the Rainbow theatre and stuff that's available on video at almost the same time as it's playing at the Mayfair. It's not very inspiring."

Mr. Demarbre's group has been inspired by theatres such as the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas, and Brewvie's Cinema Pub in Salt Lake City, Utah. Both serve alcohol with their flicks, something Mr. Demarbre said his group is keen to do.

"If they can do it in Utah," he said, "we can do it here. We want it to be fun to go to the movie theatre. We've got to get people out of their seats."

Mr. Demarbre and his partners have been trying for years to open a repertory cinema in Ottawa. They approached Mr. Ng about the Mayfair several years ago, "but he didn't bite," Mr. Demarbre said.

When the Great Canadian Theatre Company moved into its new building at Wellington and Holland, they tried to acquire its old building on Gladstone. They also looked at a theatre-turned-church and a furniture store in the Westboro area.

Recently, out of frustration, they've been showing movies the last Saturday of every month at Club Saw in Arts Court.

Mille Sabords · #2 Posted: **Nov 19, 2008, 4:28 PM**

And this morning's editorial:

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Lights, camera, community
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Neighbourhoods are built on a sense of community. Without that, we are just a bunch of people living within close proximity of each other.

So how are communities built? Well, they are bound by a sense of belonging. It's the conversation at the end of the driveway after everyone on the street has finished shovelling. Or the parents together watching their sons and daughters at a soccer game.

Neighbourhoods are made of people, not buildings. They are students in schools and worshippers in churches. They are places where people gather, such as commercial ribbons of coffee shops and restaurants full of customers. They are the curling rink, the baseball diamond and the tennis club.

Good communities also have entertainment within them. Art galleries, theatres and movie houses make for a vibrant neighbourhood. Those amenities contribute to a street scene, and that makes for more interaction between people and contributes to a safer community.

That's why it is wonderful news indeed that the Mayfair Theatre has been saved. Residents of Old Ottawa South and the Glebe, when they say, "Let's go the movies," can do it by foot or by bike in the neighbourhood. You see, nearby community facilities are not just convenient, they're also green.

But the Mayfair is more than that. The theatre is heritage, both in architecture and history. It is the oldest movie theatre in Ottawa so citizens can tell many stories about Saturday night at the movies. As the Mayfair is part of Ottawa's history, it too is part of many Ottawans' personal history. It is heritage on many levels.

The Mayfair is also an architectural gem, in a tradition that has been lost in the giant suburban megaplexes. The theatre features ornate plaster façades, faux balconies, wrought ironwork and ornamental glass windows. It should be a gathering place for people in the Bank Street area and for Ottawans in general.

The reason the Mayfair was threatened was because it wasn't economically viable. And that's because the programming had become predictable. Second-run movies not only appeared at the Mayfair, but also on televisions at home as technology provided new competition.

The new operators of the theatre are looking at invigorating the lineup at the Mayfair. They are proposing art, foreign, independent and Canadian movies, plus second-run fare. As well, there will be classic films, film festivals, plus cult movies. That's different fare than we're accustomed to seeing there.

The operators of the Mayfair were also behind establishing a rep theatre on Wellington Street West. Those plans have been abandoned in favour of the new Mayfair project. That said, the owners are still looking at sites in the old west end for another cinema. They say Ottawa can support three rep movie houses.

That means more films, more fun and more community.

Jamaican-Phoenix · #3 Posted: **Nov 19, 2008, 7:10 PM**

Quote:

The operators of the Mayfair were also behind establishing a rep theatre on Wellington Street West. Those plans have been abandoned in favour of the new Mayfair project. That said, the owners are still looking at sites in the old west end for another cinema. They say Ottawa can support three rep movie houses.

Kinda sad about this part, since it would've been nice to have something like the Bytowne/Mayfair in my neighbourhood, but oh well. Maybe in the future.

It's still great news that the Mayfair will be saved though!

harls · #4 Posted: **Nov 19, 2008, 7:20 PM**

Great news, and I like that 'serving alcohol' idea.

Mille Sabords · #5 Posted: **Nov 19, 2008, 8:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

Kinda sad about this part, since it would've been nice to have something like the Bytowne/Mayfair in my neighbourhood, but oh well. Maybe in the future.

It's still great news that the Mayfair will be saved though!

These guys are still pretty new in the business of operating a theatre. When they get established, in 5 years or so, they can open a new one in the podium of a new condo building in your neighbourhood. West Wellington is ripe for it now, just wait in 5 years, the place will be begging for it.