We were talking on Friday about the original Palace Theatre on Ouellette Ave. The following photos were forwarded to me by Darren at artwindsor.org, who took them from his apartment at the Royal Windsor Terrace where he lived at the time.
The theatre was opened in 1920, as the Allen Theatre, which was a chain across Canada and the USA in the late 1910’s and early 1920’s. It was designed by Detroit architect C. Howard Crane, who designed all of the Allen Theatres across North America. In 1924, the name was changed from the Allen to the Palace. The theatre closed at the end of 1985, as can be seen on the marquee above. It was demolished in January 1986, and Palace v. 2.0 was built in its place. In later years it was owned by Famous Players, who closed it down in the late 1990’s early 2000’s. It has since been purchased and reopened as an independent cinema.
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this is amazing. never knew famous players owned the palace.
i wonder when the vanity closed--and when the forest glade and odeon theatre opened...
I worked there as an usher after the big theatre chain left and it was a repertory cinema. Showed a lot of rock films, docs, independent/art films, canadian films, second run classics. Used to open the balconey for my friends so we could party up during the films. Saw "The Wall" on acid. Those were fun times.
I'd love to see some interior pictures of this building. Last night I went downtown to see the final Saturday night screening at the Palace (Jan 7, 2012). The current Palace neon sign appears to be the orginal .... Last night I took a few pictures of the current building, though not an architectural gem, losing it is yet another sad end to an era in downtown Windsor
Hey good eye on those "Palace" signs Chris! I never noticed that.
I hope they are saved, if only to pay tribute to the 90+ years of service this theater has given to so many in this city.