Bloor Cinema

Description

The Bloor Cinema is currently closed for renovations.
The current renovations will see upgrades to the cinema’s technical equipment and sound system, audience seating, façade and lobby areas. During this time, Hot Docs will be conducting industry stakeholder and community consultations around proposed plans for the cinema. Originally built as a vaudeville theatre in 1905, the Bloor Cinema opened its doors as a film house in 1913 under the name Madison Picture Palace, making it one of the first “picture palaces” in Toronto. By the end of the decade, the Madison was joined in the Annex neighbourhood by Allen’s Bloor Theatre (now Lee’s Palace) and the Alhambra Theatre, both opening in 1919 near the Bloor and Bathurst intersection. In 1940, under the management of 20th Century Theatres, the Madison was demolished and rebuilt according to the plans of prolific theatre architects Kaplan & Sprachman. All that remained of the original theatre were its two side walls. In 1941, the newly rebuilt venue opened as the Midtown and remained a popular neighborhood cinema through the 1940s and 1950s, famous for packed weekend matinees and horror double-bills. The theatre continued the Midtown’s programming approach until 1973 when, re-christened as the Eden, it switched to heavily-censored adult films. In 1979, Famous Players closed down the Eden and re-opened it as the Bloor Theatre, offering first-run films for as increasingly family-oriented neighborhood. Within a year, the Bloor Theatre closed and was taken over by Carm Bordonaro and his partners. With the new management came the introduction of memberships, classic and genre film programming, and packed houses. Under the management of Hot Docs, the Bloor Cinema will offer a year-round home for first-run Canadian and international documentaries, as well as special documentary presentations and showcases, including the popular Doc Soup screening series. Currently under renovation to upgrade projection and sound capabilities, improve seating, expand restroom and lobby facilities, and refresh its facade, the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema is slated to reopen in 2012.