SACRED HOUSES: ELGIN AND WINTER GARDEN, TORONTO

“Sacred Houses Series”
In this edition of the “Scared Houses Series,” we would like to pay homage to the historic Elgin and Winter Garden in Toronto as we continue to celebrate and honor notable movie theaters around the globe.

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres are two stacked theatres in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, built-in 1913. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, they were the flagship of Marcus Loew’s theatre chain. The Winter Garden Theatre is located seven stories above the Elgin Theatre.

Both theatres were initially built to showcase vaudeville acts and silent movies of the time, with each theatre intended for a different patron class. The lower theatre, originally called Loew’s Yonge Street Theatre, was designed for continuous vaudeville and movies and had a gold-and-marble, domed, ‘hard-top’ interior. The upper-level Winter Garden was built for the ‘Big Time’ vaudeville market and had reserved seats at premium prices, catering to affluent patrons. The Winter Garden was designed to be atmospheric, with its walls painted in watercolors and its ceiling decorated with lanterns.

By 1928, feature-length silent films were popular, but sound films were just coming into their own. In 1928, the lower theatre was converted to show sound films, and the upper theatre was closed. The Winter Garden remained shuttered for about sixty years, but inside was an extensive collection of vaudeville flats and scenery, now the world’s largest surviving collection.

In 1969, Loews sold the Elgin to Famous Players. By the 1970s, the Elgin was showing mainly B movies and soft-core pornography. However, in 1985, the musical Cats was presented at the Elgin Theatre from 1985 to 1987.

Since 1979, the Elgin Theatre has served as one of the hosts of the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In 1981, the theatre was sold to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, which still manages the theatre to this day.

Check them out HERE.

If you know of a theater that deserves recognition in our “Sacred Houses” series, please contact us and provide details about its location, name, and significance to you or your community. We are passionate about supporting local theaters and believe they should be celebrated alongside the more well-known historic venues.