Saved from demolition, reopened 76 years to the day after it first opened
The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre
Two full-sized vaudeville theatres, stacked one above the other, closed for decades before a restoration reopened them on the exact anniversary of their original opening night.
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At 189 Yonge Street stands the last operating double-decker theatre facility in the world: two full-sized theatres stacked one above the other, joined by a grand staircase. Designed by architect Thomas Lamb and built between 1912 and 1914 for vaudeville performances, the lower Loew's Theatre — renamed the Elgin in 1978 — opened on December 15, 1913, and the upper Winter Garden opened on February 16, 1914.
Closed, then reopened on the anniversary
Vaudeville declined as "talkies" arrived in Toronto in 1927, and the Winter Garden closed in 1928, sitting largely untouched for decades. The stacked theatres were saved from demolition in 1981 by the Ontario Heritage Trust, restored, and reopened on December 15, 1989 — 76 years to the day after the original 1913 opening. Both theatres were designated National Historic Sites of Canada in 1982.
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Sources
- Parks Canada — Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres National Historic Site of Canada
- The Canadian Encyclopedia — Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre
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