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  #21  
Old Posted Jan 14, 2019, 11:46 PM
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Opening night is sold out.
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  #22  
Old Posted Jan 15, 2019, 12:48 AM
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Opening night is sold out.
Very cool! Great to see! Are there any images of the renovated exterior and interior yet?
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  #23  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2019, 6:00 PM
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Progress on the new marquee - somehow I don't feel like the original was black, but w/e. Not sure if the black really suits it but that's what everyone seems to do these days to "modernize" them is to make them black..

I really hope those drains aren't staying and that they're just to get the water off the marquee during construction - they don't look very great. Also curious if that black display where the names of the movies will be shown will be digitized, or if the white "plaque" seen in the original and renders is going to sit on top of it, and one on each side to attach to the sides. Restorations VERY much interest me and I just like to see a faithful reconstruction whenever possible.





Photos by Joe/flickr


Let's compare to the original:



Aaaand to the proposed render:



I'm also kinda disappointed they're not restoring the original ticket booth in the front that was originally there - with the 2 doors on each side to go in after. So far it's a "kinda" restoration.

Last edited by Chronamut; Jan 28, 2019 at 6:11 PM.
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  #24  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2019, 11:54 PM
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^There's not much point in restoring the booth if they have no intention of using it. That would be going a bit far probably...
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  #25  
Old Posted Jan 29, 2019, 2:29 AM
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^There's not much point in restoring the booth if they have no intention of using it. That would be going a bit far probably...
So why not use it? Have someone in there selling tickets like they used to, and just have the inside for the snack bar.
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  #26  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 3:25 PM
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Westdale theatre opens to the public TODAY!!!

sneak peak at the restored marquee:



more info here: https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9...-gala-opening/

They really need to sodablast the stone at the top though. Also I really want to know if that display lights up or is digital. Will what movies being shown still be shown on it..?

-----

Also here is a rare colour shot of the interior how it originally looked:


Last edited by Chronamut; Feb 14, 2019 at 3:41 PM.
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  #27  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 6:50 PM
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The 2nd sign that says "Westdale Theatre" is a digital display.
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  #28  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 6:57 PM
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Originally Posted by ChildishGavino View Post
The 2nd sign that says "Westdale Theatre" is a digital display.
Awesome! Can't wait to see it lit at night

Now are the displays on the sides that say westdale digital signs as well?

Also does the green and white westdale sign light up?
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  #29  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 7:11 PM
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I assume the sides are digital as well, the segment I watched on the news wasn't specific.

I'm not sure about the green segment, I assume it lights up though.
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  #30  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 7:15 PM
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Originally Posted by ChildishGavino View Post
I assume the sides are digital as well, the segment I watched on the news wasn't specific.

I'm not sure about the green segment, I assume it lights up though.
I really wish those silver stripes on the corners lit up too, but from what I remember hearing that wasn't original to the design so I believe they are just painted on.
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  #31  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 7:28 PM
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The digital signage is a big miss.
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  #32  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 7:31 PM
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  #33  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2019, 8:23 PM
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Originally Posted by LikeHamilton View Post
Wow you weren't kidding when you said bad quality..

..but yeah looks like the westdale letters light up - that is good. I also like how the masks have spotlights on them - that is a nice touch

Also it looks like the silver bands DO light up - I remember hearing in an interview that they weren't going to do that as it wasn't how it originally was - in any case I am glad they made these light up - looks much better

Also I don't see the digital signage being a big miss - I just see it as a good form of modernization. I honestly believe all theatres like this should have digital signage - they have it at the silvercities.
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  #34  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2019, 10:04 PM
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Westdale Theatre

Community Open House

Saturday February 23

12:00-14:00

Please join us for a free, family-friendly Community Open House where you can tour the theatre, try out the new seats, get some free, fresh popcorn, and celebrate the community magic.
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  #35  
Old Posted Feb 23, 2019, 5:25 PM
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I had gotten the chance to swing by today, and this place is a beaut. Has anyone noticed the small art collection in the lounge?
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  #36  
Old Posted Feb 23, 2019, 11:12 PM
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Originally Posted by LikeHamilton View Post
Westdale Theatre

Community Open House

Saturday February 23

12:00-14:00

Please join us for a free, family-friendly Community Open House where you can tour the theatre, try out the new seats, get some free, fresh popcorn, and celebrate the community magic.
aww I just saw this now... oh well.. I'll swing by there one of these days..
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  #37  
Old Posted Feb 26, 2019, 9:16 PM
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Nice article in the Globe & Mail (behind paywall). Congratulations Hamilton, great to see a theatre like this being saved.

“I stick my neck out for nobody.” - Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca (1942)

It’s been two days since the Bogart-Bergman classic flickered to life at Hamilton’s Westdale Theatre. And thank goodness a number of necks stuck themselves out for this once-and-again glamourous movie house. Put up for sale at the end of 2016, it likely would have never shown a movie again had it not been for the not-for-profit Westdale Cinema Group, which mobilized in January, 2017, and quickly came up with a deposit.

One of those necks – the one belonging to Graham Crawford – is trying to point out the highlights of the glorious, $2.8-million restoration (which took seven months longer than anticipated), but he keeps getting interrupted by grateful Hamiltonians...

...Even in the main auditorium, the new – and much more elegant – café-au-lait/mint-green paint scheme comes partly from scrape-tests, but mostly from educated guesses, says Gerald Stanley, who had access to a 60-page building specification document from the Ontario Archives: “In spite it being called a ‘specification,’ there was nothing specific in it in terms of colour,” he quips. Pointing to one of the decorative columns that frames the giant screen, he adds: “This gold that you’re seeing here is a guess because one of the few archival photos we have, the paint in that area looked metallic.”...

...And then there were the donors: All 345 seats were “purchased” and name-plaqued; the new accessible seating area was named; and the lobby, stage, auditorium and even the popcorn machine were sponsored in exchange for immortality on brass. Those who volunteered their skills or time in other ways have been honoured via an illuminated sign.

Even 21st-century interventions done for convenience or fire code – a half-wall separating auditorium from lobby has been removed and the only heritage elements to remain upstairs are windows – have been done with grace and thoughtfulness to the overall impact on the building’s character. Then again, that’s not surprising, since movie houses are places that seem to belong to all of us … magic places some folk will gladly stick their necks out to save.

But now, finishes Mr. Crawford, it’s our turn: “The truth is we need to keep raising money; we paid for everything to open, but there’s a big chunk that are loans.”


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real...o-movie-house/
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  #38  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2019, 3:19 AM
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Here's an image of the exterior - that link is a bit annoying in that it makes you pay to read it..



The exterior looks great though!

Here's a look at the exterior sign letters before they were put up:



as it was being put up:



bottom part lit while being put up:



I really wish they'd sodablast the stone at the top - the streaking kinda ruins the restoration somewhat.

And at night lit (better quality pic than the nighttime ones linked farther up)



and a tiny pic of the interior:



Since they ask you to pay to see the rest of the article, I'll just paste it in here:

“Congratulations! What time are you showing the free movie?” says one man as he
extends his hand to shake. Today, Some Like It Hot is on offer to those who
contributed to the fundraising campaign, along with a pre-movie open house.


Interior of the snack bar:


“It’s phenomenal,” another says as he goes in for a bear-hug.

One man bounds down the staircase and practically pins Mr. Crawford to the
concession stand, a contemporary take on Art Deco designed by Mr. Graham’s
partner, Gerald Stanley, who spent much of his career in the design and
construction arm of Cineplex-Odeon under Garth Drabinsky. “Congratulations!
Looking good! It’s really changed up there,” the man says, beaming.

“Oh, it was gutted, it had to be,” Mr. Crawford replies, “to get the number of
washrooms to code.”

An elegant, jewel-encrusted older woman concurs: “Beautiful washroom!” she
opines as she descends the stairs and locks eyes with the two men.

It’s not just the washrooms: Everything here is beautiful. The corrugated metal box
with its large, illuminated letter-board no longer smothers the façade; instead, the
hand-carved, Indiana limestone Comedy and Tragedy masks once again direct their
gaze onto King Street West, just as they did until the 1969 renovation sucked away
much of 1935. Below these is a more Deco-accurate, smaller marquee lovingly
constructed by Sunset Neon. And speaking of neon, the familiar (if a little kitschy)
WESTDALE letters in green neon have been repurposed inside as decoration over
the staircase.


The familiar WESTDALE letters in green neon have been
repurposed inside as decoration over the staircase.


Below Sunset’s streamlined signage, a riot of cream, orange, black and swirly olive-
alabaster Vitrolite (pigmented structural glass) has been removed, refurbished,
harvested from elsewhere and reinstalled in its original jazzy pattern. One piece,
formerly painted over, sports sandblasted pyramid-shapes. And would you look at
those front doors? Hand-crafted by Alan Stacey and his team at Heritage Mill in
nearby Dundas, Ont., they respect the original ziggurat pattern while eliminating
the complex sash pattern for a more pleasing, contemporary look.

Inside the lobby, original Deco frames for coming attractions posters have been
recreated by local firm Crescent Cabinet Co.

It’s hard to believe these myriad details were gleaned from a handful of period
photographs, all in black-and-white; in fact, the Vitrolite patterning was
determined from just one photograph that had to be lightened up in Photoshop.


In the main auditorium, Gerald Stanley says the new paint scheme comes partly
from scrape-tests, but mostly from educated guesses.

Even in the main auditorium, the new – and much more elegant – café-au-
lait/mint-green paint scheme comes partly from scrape-tests, but mostly from
educated guesses, says Gerald Stanley, who had access to a 60-page building
specification document from the Ontario Archives: “In spite it being called a
‘specification,’ there was nothing specific in it in terms of colour,” he quips. Pointing
to one of the decorative columns that frames the giant screen, he adds: “This gold
that you’re seeing here is a guess because one of the few archival photos we have,
the paint in that area looked metallic.”

The “jazz plaster” that covers most walls was a different story, however. While
much of the peaks-and-valleys, stucco-like finish was untouched, many areas had
been damaged by cover-ups or obliterated by water damage. Somehow, Schuit
Plastering & Stucco was able to recreate the finish so well, the eye is completely
fooled: “That’s original, this is not,” says Mr. Crawford, pointing to two identical
patches of wall. “They were really, really good, they really cared about this.”

It wasn’t just the plasterers: Every single worker who spent time on the Westdale
understood that they were preserving something bigger than the sum of its parts:
“The trades, they work every day on construction stuff, but they seemed to
embrace this as a special project,” Mr. Crawford confirms. “To have a building that
is designated inside and outside is not that common.”


Even 21st-century interventions done for convenience or fire
code have been done with grace and thoughtfulness to the overall impact on the
building’s character.


And then there were the donors: All 345 seats were “purchased” and name-
plaqued; the new accessible seating area was named; and the lobby, stage,
auditorium and even the popcorn machine were sponsored in exchange for
immortality on brass. Those who volunteered their skills or time in other ways
have been honoured via an illuminated sign.

Even 21st-century interventions done for convenience or fire code – a half-
wall separating auditorium from lobby has been removed and the only heritage
elements to remain upstairs are windows – have been done with grace and
thoughtfulness to the overall impact on the building’s character. Then again,
that’s not surprising, since movie houses are places that seem to belong to all
of us … magic places some folk will gladly stick their necks out to save.

But now, finishes Mr. Crawford, it’s our turn: “The truth is we need to keep
raising money; we paid for everything to open, but there’s a big chunk that
are loans.”

Last edited by Chronamut; Mar 4, 2019 at 5:41 AM.
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  #39  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2019, 9:43 PM
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I love this. Nicely done.

I think the last movie I saw there was in the mid-1990s, "The Bridges of Madison County" on a date-night with my girlfriend.
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  #40  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2019, 12:06 AM
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^The things we do for...well...women!
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