Canon Theatre

This is the grand staircase up to the Canon Theatre which started life as the Pantages Theatre in 1920 as a combo movie/vaudville house. Designed by architect Thomas W Lamb, it was the largest theatre in Canada and featured beautiful interiors of marble, gold leaf, etc. It eventually became strictly a movie theatre and in the early 1970s was divided into 6 movie houses and all the interior surfaces were drywalled and or painted over. In the late 80s new owners completely restored and refreshed the interior, even having the paint meticulously removed from the original surfaces. In 1989 it reopened with The Phantom of the Opera ( which ran for more than 10 years ) and has remained a live theatre ever since. It is really gorgeous inside!