Moviegoers petition city to keep downtown movie experiences

A group of cinephiles worried about the loss of Victoria’s downtown theatres is asking the city council to explore ways to ensure there are film houses in the downtown area that can continue to show movies.

“The imminent closure of our downtown movie theatres presents a unique opportunity for the city to explore options for expanding the purview of its support of Arts & Culture in Victoria to include cinema,” the group writes on a petition that went live Sun. night on change.org.

“Don't let this be the final screening for accessible cinema in downtown Victoria,” the petition reads.

Last week, we found out that the building that houses the Odeon Theatre on Yates is up for sale for $8.5 million. The listing, on JLL Investor Centre, says the location allows for “mixed-use development including residential, hotel, retail, and office” and makes no mention of maintaining the Cineplex-brand seven-screen theatre.

The nearby Capitol 6 theatre is operating, but for how long is unclear because building owner Jawl Properties has been looking to develop the parcel of land at Yates and Blanshard, and was approved to build a 10-storey office space. Three years after gaining that approval, there’s been no sign of development. A message Capital Daily left at Jawl was not returned in time for inclusion in this story.

If both theatres were to close, it would leave the IMAX in the Royal BC Museum as the lone downtown theatre screening major releases, and Silver City at Tillicum the closest multiplex cinema.

“If we do lose these multiplex theatres downtown, that puts a big hole in the availability of space for the Victoria Film Festival (VFF) to screen programming, which I think is overall detrimental,” John Forte, the petition organizer, said.

The group points to how the city made a $3.95 million investment in the arts community last spring by buying the building on View that houses Hermann’s Jazz Club as indicative of Victoria’s willingness to support cultural spaces. “So, we're kind of just of the mind that, why not lump cinema into that?” Forte asks.

Coun. Jeremy Caradonna, who, along with fellow councillor, Matt Dell, spearheaded the Hermann’s purchase, says although he’s fully onboard the arts train, he isn’t sure how much the city council can do to preserve the multiplexes.

“From what I gather, there’s a chance that the building is purchased by a new owner and maintained as a theatre—that would be the best outcome,” he said.

“Beyond that, I don’t believe the city is in a position to pursue another major capital acquisition at this time, and I don’t foresee the site being zoned exclusively for movie theatres.”

Petition calls on city to get creative

The petition says cinemas provide accessible entertainment for all ages, contribute to downtown vibrancy and economic activity, create communal spaces, and offer exposure to new ideas and cultural experiences.

It calls on the city to initiate an emergency response to identify options for maintaining cinema access downtown, to explore partnerships with property owners and developers to make sure that “at least one multi-screen cinema remains accessible in the downtown core,” and to establish tax incentives or zoning considerations to attract and retain theatre operators.

“We could suggest this to developers, but it’s really up to them what they include in their applications,” said Coun. Dave Thompson, the neighbourhood liaison for downtown, who agrees that movies bring people, vibrancy, and money to the downtown core.

“In the end, they apply, and we decide,” he tells Capital Daily.

Forte feels that’s “kind of punting” the issue down the road a bit, and he wants to see city councillors protect the arts.

“If you're not willing to at least work with developers or kind of steer them in certain directions through incentives, I think that's a bit of an abdication of responsibility as a councillor in a city like Victoria or any major Canadian city,” he said.

Thompson said he’s definitely in favour of “keeping downtown vibrant, as is the majority of [the] council”, and would be “willing to explore options” with an owner.

“Fingers crossed that someone buys and operates the property as a movie theatre, or that the owner of another property recognizes the opportunity,” Thompson said.

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Correction : An earlier version of this story identified IMAX at RBCM as a multi-screen theatre. It is a single screen theatre.