Ridge Theatre to Meet Wrecking Ball

March 12, 2012

Posted by Vancity Buzz | 6 »

Soon another Vancouver theatre will be seeing the wrecking ball as developer Cressy plans to tear down the Ridge Theatre as part of a $60-million redevelopment plan that includes four storey concrete condos (approx. 50 units) and a 22,000 square foot food store. This will alter the landscape of West 16th and Arbutus. It will also have heritage advocates up in arms and rightfully so. Many will say how saddened they are and one wonders have they or will they ever venture to the Ridge theatre.

It’s sad to see another theatre meet the wrecking ball, however, the writing was on the wall for the 63-year-old theatre, which is leased by Festival Cinemas.

Having said that, the theatre was well used and perhaps the City of Vancouver could recommend that Cressey have to rebuild another theatre at the same site. Maybe grant them additional density for another project. In order to do so the city will have to relax the parking requirements for the site. If there is a will, I’m sure there is a way. We’ll see how this all plays out.

No formal proposal has been received by the City of Vancouver. When they release plans, we’ll publish them.

DB

So ends the era of small cinemas…
Dougthoms

Dear VanCity Buzz:

Great article about another tragedy of culture and art in Vancouver. How many theaters have closed in the last 18 months? Five? Tragic. NetFlix and wide-screen home TVs are mass-murdering an industry.

But instead of asking for a replacement to be built, why not support the theatres we have left? Currently, The RIO THEATRE is battling Vancouver’s long-outdated liquor regulations, in an effort to use ALL the tools available to survive.

The RIO THEATRE can be found on FaceBook, where you may also sign their petition, asking the LCLB to grant a variance in current rules, which keeps liquor from being sold at film AND live events.

Thanks for supporting The RIO THEATRE. I work there. And would like to continue.
Andrew Chobaniuk

I think it would be cool to incorporate the theatre rather than destroy it completely…
http://twitter.com/VancityBuzz Karm

Hey Dougthoms

We were advocates and help spread the word about the RIO. I hope it survives, however, it needs community support and right now I don’t feel it has it. People want to “save” it, however, how many were actually at the rally’s for support? We had a few people from the team attend and they said they expected more support.

Cheers,

Karm
http://twitter.com/Phanyxx ♔ Nick Routley

Hi guys! So, I was chatting with people at the Meccanica sales centre (Meccanica is a Cressy development), and they said that one of the developers is incorporating a theatre design into either a nearby complex they’re building or the same site.

Cressy is one of the better developers out there, so I hope they are able to do something innovative with the space that includes the theatre or pays homage to it while providing some vibrancy for the area. I guess we’ll have to wait to see…
Apple

All right! More for http://museumofvancouver.ca/exhibitions/exhibit/neon-vancouver-ugly-vancouver

Ridge Theatre to Meet Wrecking Ball

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