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1. • CommentAuthorTheDog
   • CommentTimeMay 12th 2008

    
   ya baby!
2. • CommentAuthordrewery
   • CommentTimeMay 12th 2008

    
   If I remember correctly, Max Blankstein started GBR, and I think that his brother Morley went on to form Number 10. Morley is from the "post-chicago" school, and has some incredible bulidings in town, including his sons home in River Heights!
3. •  
     CommentAuthorMR_Point
   • CommentTimeMay 12th 2008 edited

    
   hey vinman5 you still wana do that thing come to the north side of the tracks and conttinue the push north
   
   i don't want to loose anymore of these gems if only i had money to take the yellow where house over :'( make it ito lofts and add a padio on the one side or a glass atrium sun room faceing onto the rail tracks side.....
   <img src="http://www.pointdouglas.com/plugins/p17_image_gallery/images/1019.jpg">
   
   also are you aware of the old valcan iron works building on souther land has raw open spaces in it of fare size old steel mill worth aparently still working over head cranes...... part of the building needs a new roof real badly and is were the 1919 genral strike started......
   <img src="http://www.pointdouglas.com/plugins/p17_image_gallery/images/937.jpg">
4. • CommentAuthorDeanK
   • CommentTimeMay 12th 2008

    
   re the Lido theatre.... only place I have ever seen stars in an indoor movie theatre :)
5. • CommentAuthorSam
   • CommentTimeMay 13th 2008

    
   Dean, Then you missed seeing the interior of the Uptown theatre on Academy Rd. The interior was like a Mediterranean village courtyard. The ceiling was done to represent the evening sky with twinkling stars. Moving cloud effects were projected on it along with a rising and setting moon and even the ghostly image of an airplane moving across the sky. John Eberson was considered the grand master of creating atmospheric theatre interiors, but locally Max Blankstein did an exemplary job. It was a crime that the interior was destroyed to create a bowling alley. It seems that's the ongoing story in Winnipeg. All we have to look at is the exterior of the building today which only gives you a hint at what it might have been like inside.
6. •  
     CommentAuthorMR_Point
   • CommentTimeMay 13th 2008

    
   realy? what a shame :( but then is theally still used?
7. • CommentAuthorDeanK
   • CommentTimeMay 13th 2008

    
   yup I did indeed miss that..
   
   
   heh the lido used to be awesome .. they would close for most of the summer so when they opened back up they would have kick arse triple features of summer blockbusters...
   
   mind you I dont actually recall if anyone was not totally drunk by time the third one started playing...
8. • CommentAuthorSam
   • CommentTimeMay 13th 2008

    
   Sounds a lot like the long weekend triple features at one of the drive ins. By the time of the third movie daylight was dawning and the images on the screen were barely visible. The view around the lot wasn't one you wanted to see in daylight either.
9. • CommentAuthorbuflyer
   • CommentTimeMay 13th 2008

    
   This may be off topic, but thought I would mention what happened to the Alexandra Cafe when they demolished the Hotel in the early 70's. Someone had the foresight to dismantle the fixtures in the Cafe, then they sat in a semi trailer in Winnipeg for about 25 yrs. Gordon Sinclair I recall wrote about the Cafe fixtures being for sale 7 or 8 years ago, writing about the story and asking if a organization or business would be interested to purchase the fixtures and rebuild the Cafe. Well it's now in Cranbrook BC, at the train museum. Wouldn't this have been a nice addition to the Forks and the Train Museum at CN Station? My point being there are heritage items worth saving, and perhaps recreating elsewhere (in Wpg!) if it makes sense. And why hasn't the land been developed at Higgins and Main, does the city own it? Just behind the Starland an old warehouse was knocked down a few years ago, and now a developer has a sign out advertising "For Sale" "Will Develop". If those parking lots/parks get developed, I bet there would have been a business interested in the Starland or Rex as a gallery/coffee shop/ etc. Here's the link to the Cranbook Train Museum, lots of good pictures and a background on the story: http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/alexandra/alexandra01.html

   
10. • CommentAuthorbuflyer
    • CommentTimeMay 13th 2008

     
    sorry one more link in case it's missed about the Allan and Donni Stern who saved the room. Maybe they should get Katz' new city medal? And I'm planning to stop in Cranbrook one day, fwiw:
    http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/alexandra/sterns01.html
11. •  
      CommentAuthormrchristian
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    Make sure you take pics and send them back ! I stumbled across that site one day researching the This Day in History thing and couldn't believe what they did ! We might not appreciate it but good to see someone did !
12. • CommentAuthorvinman5
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    hi MR_Point
    the valcan iron works building looks alot like some of the places we shoot in .. and is pretty close to the tracks .. but i should take a look.
    I really liked the starland although it never got a place in history ... i guess the walker built a couple years later and much grander stole the show.
    i thought that with the rexs history it could have saved starland and now i hear the spot between them was the colonial theater . i could of rebuilt the front to attach the two in creating the rex room 120' X 110' studio with 40' ceilings .. attached to a over 1000 capacity diner theater studio..
    like i said before i liked the idea too much.
    im looking at another property also a heritage building ... i like the idea of reusing older building ..
    im more interested in a large theater studio space then just large space..
    the starland rex combo just seemed to cool not to do ...
    i think the city didnt want to give it away so they threw it away.
    some people are funny like that.
13. •  
      CommentAuthormrchristian
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    Vulcan might be a space for you, or the old Dominion Bridge - though that's probably too big.
14. • CommentAuthorSam
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    There was one other theatre along that strip of Main Street that has barely been mentioned. It was the Fox. I can recall the vertical sign, but can't quite place where the building sat. It was on the same side as the Starland and the Epic (Regent) and not far away from them.
15. •  
      CommentAuthorMR_Point
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    probly was located on the surface lot just south of logan?
16. •  
      CommentAuthorconceitedjerk
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    <blockquote><cite>Posted By: mrchristian</cite>Vulcan might be a space for you, or the old Dominion Bridge - though that's probably too big.</blockquote>
    
    I've been seeing a lot of activity in the Dominion Bridge building of late (I work a block away). I know "The Chrome Pit" has taken up residence in one of the other buildings on the lot. Will have to have another look at lunch today.
17. •  
      CommentAuthorcancelbot
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    Moderator

    Posted By: vinman5the starland rex combo just seemed to cool not to do ...
    i think the city didnt want to give it away so they threw it away.
    some people are funny like that.

    
    
    The City let the buildings rot, but I don't know that they are entirely to blame here. I would guess that the City became owners of those theatres reluctantly through tax sales, and in recent years Centreventure was marketing the buildings fairly aggressively. Despite their luck in selling off a large number of city-owned surplus property downtown, no one stepped up to inquire about the Starland and the Regent.
    
    The City's biggest sin was letting the buildings deteriorate to the extent they did - it's possible that in 5 years, conditions in the area could have made their renovation and reuse commercially feasible. Still, it's not like the City tried to demolish these buildings at the first instance. There was a lot of time for someone to step up, but nobody did.
18. • CommentAuthorMr. Nobody
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    Maybe its just time they get torn down. But if there are artifacts that could be saved, then the City should make an effort.
    
    People may not step up because the buildings are just not suitable for anything. Theatres are possibly the worse reno's, no floors or supports in the center.
19. • CommentAuthorbuflyer
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    here's a bit of history on the TD Centre, circa 1987, what was knocked down to build it. And they never did build that second tower.... interesting perspective now for this discussion on the theatres
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeojVg0_Xwg
20. • CommentAuthorSam
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

     
    I suspect that the time wasn't right. That part of town has been in a steady decline for a long, long time. It didn't help the area when the Royal Alexandra hotel was torn down either. No one was willing to step up to the plate and invest in rehab. Certainly the city wasn't about to invest in rehabbing empty buildings that were already lying dormant on the tax rolls in the faint hope that someone would buy them.