rdaner
Senior Member
^I believe that the closures in central US cities are due to crime/homelessness issues.
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
kade1064
Active Member
They should have kept the movie theater...the one across the street is too far...And here is the press release from the YMCA itself.
I am curious how much of the theatre will remain? Will it be torn down completely, or just gutted?
On the Retail Insider article someone commented that the Cheesecake Factory was going to be located here. I think it would have been too big for Cheescake Factory and they are closing a lot of locations (I think they're closing both their San Francisco downtown location and their San Diego downtown location).
Dan416
Senior Member
I'm sure if it was profitable it would have stuck around.
It is interesting to see another theatre at Square One get changed to something else. The GoodLife is a former theatre too (Famous Players).
torontowest91
Active Member
I thought it was going between Walmart/Sport Chek (but it was canceled)...And here is the press release from the YMCA itself.
I am curious how much of the theatre will remain? Will it be torn down completely, or just gutted?
On the Retail Insider article someone commented that the Cheesecake Factory was going to be located here. I think it would have been too big for Cheescake Factory and they are closing a lot of locations (I think they're closing both their San Francisco downtown location and their San Diego downtown location).
sixrings
Senior Member
Cineplex was across the street and the movie theatre inside square one was AMC. They were never going to win that battle. If the movie theatres were reversed the coliseum would have closed down.
Dan416
Senior Member
Actually the theatre in the mall was Cineplex and later Empire and lastly Landmark. When Cineplex acquired Famous Players, they put their name on the Coliseum.
AMC has never been at Square One. They were at Hurontario and Courtneypark, and at Winston Churchill (both of which Cineplex acquired).
sixrings
Senior Member
Either way the most recent building outside was cineplex. And what was inside was something other than that. The thing is that coliseum is empty 80% of the time. It’s crazy how often I’ve been in there with just a few other people. Gone are the days that you need cinemas that big. Coliseum was built when people wanted imax. Now people have 100 inch TVs in their living room. I don’t think we will ever need those big cinemas again. That inside theatre could have been a nice vip set up which is where the money is these days.
drum118
Superstar
If you been in the current YMCA and look at it from the outside, the existing theater will be mostly torn down and use more of the vacation land beside it. To fit it into this space, it maybe high as 3 floors.And here is the press release from the YMCA itself.
I am curious how much of the theatre will remain? Will it be torn down completely, or just gutted?
On the Retail Insider article someone commented that the Cheesecake Factory was going to be located here. I think it would have been too big for Cheescake Factory and they are closing a lot of locations (I think they're closing both their San Francisco downtown location and their San Diego downtown location).
The west expansion was a disaster after OMERS bought the mall and down size the plan underway for the expansion that I have called for the removal of that area for years. The theater was a waste of space and has been empty since it close. There was a short term idea to use it before COVID hit with construction taking place before the mall close for COVID. When the mall return to normal, no construction took place other than removed what was being built.
There was an Danish place in the corridor I believe after COVID, but was seeing poor foot traffic and no longer there. Foot traffic for the west expansion has been poor from my point of view. Even the last expansion sees poor foot traffic with turn over for a number of locations a few times.
I see this as a miss opportune to add an tower above the Y that would offer front door to both the mall and the Y.
sixrings
Senior Member
I definitely agree. There’s no reason a condo component couldn’t be part of this.
I guess cineplex is going to have to build something now that their land is on the chopping block. Maybe they can take over the Hudson Bay. Have theatres on level 2/3 and the rec room moved to the first level.
drum118
Superstar
It gong to be hard to fill HBC space and a good time to replace it and the parking structure with a tower. It can be a mix tower with office space that would hep to replace the current two across the street to deal with City Centre Dr extension to Hurontario as well Burnhamthorpe when time to come to build those extension.
Cineplex is on borrow time and will have to either close down 100% or relocated elsewhere on Sq One property as part of a new development. Currently looking at 10-20 years down the road at this time or maybe longer depending on the market for new towers.
Once they finish the first site, the next site at City Centre and Kariya will be the next site to be develop.
sixrings
Senior Member
Ottawa got rid of their cineplex downtown and it hurts everytime I go visit my parents. Movies to me are a part of downtown. In Ottawa there was one on the top floor of the mall and then one close to sparks street. Now we have to get in the car and drive to the burbs which have all taken out their seating to replace them with larger seating in order to reduce the size of the theatre because they too are having a hard time selling tickets.
drum118
Superstar
I remember seeing that theater, but we never went to it or any in Ottawa when were were there or other cities. Yes a fair drive to a theater from the downtown, but it like that in a number in a fair number of cities I been to both NA and Europe.
Theaters are not like they were in the past and lot has to do to the type of movies these days as well you can see at home. Been about 18 months or more since I been to a theater as nothing is catching my eye that I need to see. Before COIVD, saw many movies a year and after COVID, about 1 or 2.
Doing a theater would work for 2 floors for HBC along the lines of 10 Dundas in Toronto.
kade1064
Active Member
That is true, that west expansion was there since 2001 and it was mainly made because the old theater was shutting down 1973-1997 where goodlife fitness is now...
Square one has so many expansions, you kinda lost track
sixrings
Senior Member
I don’t know what this good life theatre was like. But when I grew up our local theatre at Scarborough town centre had screens the size of 115jnch TVs we can buy at Best Buy now. I watched Jurassic park there in a theatre with maybe 8 rows of seating. It would make sense if SQ1 had a similar set up why they too went bigger. In the 90s people were buying huge rear projection TVs and the cinemas had to shift to something even bigger. Now I’m at home with a 100inch tv, surround sound and a 4K blu ray player. It’s hard to get me out. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. The coliseum served a purpose but now we’re a little bit like Goldie locks. One theatre was too small. The coliseum too big and now we need to find one in between which meets 2025 needs. Btw coliseum is extremely run down now and is borederline neglected in its upkeep. They know the writings on the wall just as the Hudson Bay did when they stopped running escalators, stopped fixing their elevators and didn’t run the air conditioner.
drum118
Superstar
Good Life fitness replaced the old theater that had a lot of small screen like the Eaton Theater and cannot recall who own it. Cannot tell you when the Coliseum open and about right, but the types of movies cannot fill all the theaters up nightly or even 50%. When good movies are around, trying to get a seat for your time can be impossible that it may have to be a different day and time. Have done the long line up to see a show as well doing the midnight opening of a movie. The Coliseum has been in poor shape since COVID and maybe before it.
Not everyone can house and afford a 110 screen. I am lucky to have a 55 that allows me to move to 65-75 with 85 really pushing it when time to replace it. Don't watch much TV these days as there nothing worth watching to the point of thing of cutting service for it. I can use my K4 blue DVD play without not having service and rare to watch those DVD's. Not a hockey fan nor CFL, but do watch the Jays and NFL somewhat.
As for HBC, they did redo Sq One a few years ago which was one of the rare ones as the rest were real out data that I have been in and doesn't speak well for the chain. Those out data stores match a lot of the big chain stores now closing or have closed in the US and shows how cost cutting degraded the store and chain.