The photo above was taken at the grand opening in 1940. From the Windsor Star: May 17, 1940:
Windsor’s newest and most modern theatre – The Park – located on Ottawa street between Hall and Moy avenues, will open its doors tonight at 6:30 p.m. Above is shown a front view of the beautiful new structure as it appears today. It will have scores of new features, such as smoking loges, seats equipped with ashtrays, latest type mirrorphonic sound and special ventilating equipment. Seating capacity of the new building is 815, every seat upholstered with sponge cushions.
The smoking loges will accommodate 160 persons and a modern ventilation system will keep the air clear of smoke. Every seat in the loges will have its own individual ash tray. There will be a complete change of program three times a week. The management is under the direction of Mr. Arthur Ducharme, long associated with the city’s most successful theatre operations. The New Park Theatre will stand out as an ornament of real distinction.
The Opening Night saw a double bill of Two Thoroughbreds & Little Old New York.
The photo above from shortly before closure in 1970.
The Park was located at 1377 Ottawa Street. Today the site is a vacant lot to the west of the current CIBC located on the corner of Ottawa & Moy.
The theatre was designed by Jay Isadore English in 1939. English was one of Canada’s most prolific theatre architects. English was responsible for many Odeon Theatre designs.
On June 13, 1970, the news came down that the 813 seat Park would be closed July 2nd. Famous Players announced the closure to coincide with the opening of the brand new Devonshire Mall cinemas I and II. M.A.S.H. as shown on the marquee was the final movie to run at the Park.
Shortly after closure the theatre was sold to the Bank of Commerce and the theatre demolished for parking.
a few times i walked past there wondering why there is a gap… and what was there.. its pretty much the only missing tooth in that area
same here shawn, growing up in that area a lot of time was spent on ottawa. i might be wrong, but it kinda doesn’t look like it totally fit into the streetscape but there’s probly lots of hidden elements on those buildings, like the art deco under all the aluminium siding on the top of liquidation world.
didn’t ottawa also have the Kent theater? two theaters within a block or two of eachother.
those kinda look like the front doors to the Kent if i’m not mistaken.
I agree, MASH was the best war comedy since sound came in. D.W. Griffith eat your heart out.
Wow, individual ashtrays on every seat?!? Talk about catering to a dying segment of the population (I would have been there, though). No wonder it closed! 😉
I remember going there with my parents in the mid 50’s but don’t remember to much about the interior.
Nice looking building. Again, not surprised a parking lot is where this beauty stood.
Boy, what memories! Having grown up on Moy Ave. two houses north of Ottawa St., I remember it was our neighbourhood gang’s regular Saturday afternoon activity to go to the Park (or occasionally the Kent: a much smaller theatre a block to the west) for the matinee, which usually consisted of two features…..one often a western….cartoons, a newsreel, a serial (anyone remember Johnny Mack Brown?) and previews. There were ushers and even, on Saturdays, a nurse (or at least a matron) to keep some semblance of order. One of my regular Christmas gifts was a book of Famous Players theatre tickets. When you had these (they were as economical as 12 cents for a kid’s admission) you didn’t have to stand in line at the box office. We’ve come a long way since then: much of it, I’m afraid, downhill.
ah, i thought the Kent was near by. thanks Hal!
I remember going there to see M.A.S.H. I didn’t know that was the final movie. That’s almost 40 years ago now and it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.
My grandmother owned the Kent theater at 1237 ottawa street.
Wasn’t there a movie theatre on Erie Street that was open until at least the late 80’s, I remember it showed some Italian language movies, maybe some arty foreign films too
Yes there was a movie theatre on Erie – on the north side – but I can’t remember the cross street. I recall seeing the original “La Cage aux Folles” I think lack of parking may have been an issue. It was a nice little theatre.
the park theatre was a treasure. getting the best hot dogs in the world along with other snacks it was the place to go. the balcony section was great for a change. i miss that experience. the washrooms were impeccable great staff that looked over it. its sad to see its not there now, a bank parking lot. its ironic, once the park theatre closed Ottawa St. went downhill. coincidence. i think not. it was like killing your grandparents and thinking everyone was going to be happy about it. thats the park theatre. Hope CIBC is happy about their plan to make the theatre into a parking lot. great memories that will never be forgotten about the theatre. im glad i was alive to enjoy it. todays kids will never know what they missed out on. but I know.
Memories, wow, the manager as noted above -Art Ducharme was my uncle and as such I and a friend -done on a draw basis- were given free passes and a chocolate bar for every Sat morning double feature of the latest cowboy series. Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and some non-cowboy offerings such as Zorro. The managers office was just off the lobby and about the size of a shoebox -size 14, the main attraction was a large safe and we marvelled at all of that money as the proceeds from the box office were counted and dumped in large cloth bags for storage in the safe. Seems to me that childrens admission to the Sat. morning program was twelve or fifteen cents. I also recall that the theatre had a promotion for the adult theatre goers and was either a single piece of “silver” ware or cups and saucers.
I agree with the earlier comments about the facade shown in the opening day picture, I don’t recall that image but then again that was 1940
just an add on. a little bit of park theatre inner workings i found out about while working at g m. a guy i worked with said his mother was a ticket seller at the park. when she went on break from her job this usher would come and sell tickets until she got back. heres the kicker, no one could figure out how an usher on ushers pay could afford a new chevrolet corvette. i guess he stole the money in an unsuspecting manner from ticket sales over the years. thats all i know, but if youre an usher how can you buy a new chevrolet corvette back then. the guy was a scammer and succeeded. i dont know if he ever got caught but the source of the story is reliable. like i said in my last blog the hotdogs were fabulous at the park and it was what i bought before the movie even started. i remember going to see batman the movie at the park while the television series was on air. it wasnt even adam west or burt ward that played batman and robin. the movie was so long. it started around 7 pm. it was so boring that it was the first time i walked out of the theatre to go home before it ended. i remember rumplestilsken at the park. now that was a classic. if i have more memories ill post them.
The gap between the banks doesn’t look big enough to fit a movie theatre in it. But I guess they were much different back then. Too bad the CIBC didn’t move into the theatre and knock down the lame building they’re in, for parking.
And what is a smoking loge? I Googled it and didn’t really find an explanation. This page was the first hit.
Uzzy……..smoking “LOUNGE”. LOGE was an obvious typo. I think Andrew uses OCR for these news articles he posts, and sometimes it makes a mistake.
“loge” – a private box or enclosure in a theatre