Type Movie Palace Seating type fixed Opened 1930 | Genre(s) Films and Stage shows Built 1930 | |
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Former names Towne Cinema, Coronet Theatre Capacity 478 (main screen)
140 (second screen) Owner Rainbow and Magic Lantern Cinemas Similar Broadway Theatre, The Centre, Remai Arts Centre, TCU Place, Forestry Farm Park and Zoo | ||
The Roxy Theatre is a movie theatre (cinema) located in the Riversdale neighborhood of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Built during the onset of the Great Depression. The interior was decorated in a Spanish Villa style with the walls covered with small balconies, windows and towers that gave the impression of quaint Spanish village. The ceiling was painted in an atmospheric-style (dark blue and had twinkling lights set in the plaster) to give the impression of the night sky. The Roxy was the first building in Saskatoon with air conditioning. It was built for sound pictures. The New York Roxy, largest cinema ever built in North America (demolished 1960) named after its manager noted radio personality and impressario "Roxy" Rothafel, spawned hundreds of unrelated theatres across North America named Roxy, since the word came to mean the latest and best in showmanship. Rothstein Theatres, who built the Roxy in Saskatoon, used the name in many of their locations. It is one of the last atmospheric cinemas remaining in Canada.
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Renamed
The theatre was built by Rothstein Theatres of Winnipeg who owned it until 1974, when it was sold to Rokemay Theatres. It was leased to Odeon for a period in the 1960s and early 1970s when it was named in the Coronet. When Rokemay began operation, it was called the Towne Cinema. A second screen was added on May 30, 1980, in a separate building. The theatre was owned by Rokemay Theatres from 1974 until 2005. It was leased to and operated by Cineplex Odeon from 1986–1995. The Towne then closed in 1995, and sat vacant until purchased by Rainbow Cinemas.
Restoration
It was purchased and restored by Rainbow and Magic Lantern Cinemas, and reopened under its original name in 2005. It currently runs first run art/alternative movies, as well as concerts and lectures and a variety of community activities.
