From the Evening Record – October 14, 1913:
The above is the architect’s perspective of the new proposed Empress Theatre, which will be erected opposite the Joseph Appelbe Company’s stores on Pitt street. The building when completed will be one of the most modern and up to date in Western Ontario and a credit to this city. The interior decorations will be of old ivory and gold, with fancy lighting fixtures. There will be ladies’ parlors (sic) and retiring rooms and a smoking room for men. There will be room for five stores on the ground floor and fifteen offices on the second floor.
The place will have a seating capacity of 1,400 people and the stage will be large enough to play any production that can be taken care of on any Detroit stage. The front of the building will be constructed of white terra cotta. A large marquette will be constructed over the entrance to the theatre. The building is being erected by the Empress Theatre company which is being promoted by Mr. W. W. McEwen, formerly manager of the Windsor Theatre.
Designed by J.C. Pennington, this impressive structure was never built. There was a Empire theatre built on Pitt Street West. This building was planned for the east side of Ouellette. It would have been an impressive building. The recent post about the blacksmith shop, speaks of the “Appelbe property” being between Ouellette and Goyeau.
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i lived in Toronto for 3 years and they have ton of old theaters that they have maintained to this day it's too bad windsor can't seem to get their shit togeather as far as the capital goes the vanity could have been saved as well
all the more so that this did not get built.it would has seen the wreching ball by now the way windsor is going.
there was a theatre on Pitt or Chathan just west of Ouellette. what was it called?
Shirley, that was the Empire. It was on Chatham, and was demolished for the post office expansion in the mid 1950's.
The horrible post office expansion? Now that steret is a dead pedestrian walkway. Ever wonder why downtown is having a hard time keeping people there? Because of all the pedestrian dead zones. The banks play shuffle board with their properties and continue to create these zones where no other business can survive as they take on block after block.
This would have been a real beauty. But I agree with Orlando, it would have been destroyed like everything else downtown.