Saving Hamilton's art deco theatre

Can saving one little neighbourhood movie theatre be considered a big deal?

Let's not take into account the details of that theatre just yet. Let's say that this random movie theatre becomes a nightclub, perhaps. Now let's play time machine: In five years, what happens to the little neighbourhood? With the nightclub's hours of operation extending later into the night, it's not so quiet any longer. Movie buffs, first-date couples and families have been replaced by singles looking to party and, perhaps, litter increases as a result. Surrounding businesses are affected: Some are forced to change their hours to cater to the new reality, and others close. Older people stop frequenting the nearby restaurants.

Let's add these to the mix: Let's say this movie theatre is "the only" one inspired by the art deco design movement in the city; the first to be "purpose-built for sound" – i.e. the talkies – in 1935 and still largely intact; and, finally, it was designed by two prominent local architects.

That's likely what was going through the mind of Fred Fuchs, a 20-year Hollywood veteran (who spent 10 as president of Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Studios) when the Westdale theatre at 1014 King St. W. in Hamilton's Westdale Village came up for sale. Rumour had it that an interested party wanted to turn it into an event space/nightclub.

No stranger to wheeling, dealing and surrounding himself with the right people, Mr. Fuchs quickly assembled like-minded local folks. Dundas entrepreneur Bob Crockford was one of the first. Then, there was Jeremy Freiburger of Cobalt Connects. Another was Graham Crawford, a proud Hamiltonian and Westdale resident who once ran an innovative video exhibition space on James Street North called HIStory + HERitage.

This was in January. Before the month was out, the newly formed, not-for-profit Westdale Cinema Group had put together an $80,000 down payment to show the seriousness of their intentions.

"We knew we had to act fast," says Mr. Crawford, who adds that, had it become a nightclub, "it would never see a film again in its life, and that didn't seem right to us."

With other investors on board, a group mortgage was secured, and an offer of $1.69-million was accepted.

Shortly after being handed the keys, the group held an open house on a Sunday in late June. Designed to tell the rest of Hamilton what they'd been up to, and show what the future of the 82-year-old theatre would look like, more than 700 went away satisfied, Mr. Crawford says. And many shared their memories: "A lot of them from the neighbourhood, coming in and telling us stories," he says. "We had, literally, a 92-year-old woman come in and tell us 'I've lived in Westdale all my life and I've been coming here, paying 10 cents as a kid.'"

There was another, quite unexpected consequence of this event. Interested skilled tradespeople have been coming out of the woodwork (and plaster- and metal-work) to offer their services free of charge. A terrazzo expert has offered to help fix the theatre's amazing checkerboard flooring where it's been worn away or damaged (there's a big hole where the original ticket booth used to sit); a metal fabricating shop says it will help recreate the circa-1935 marquee once the group has removed the cheap, corrugated fibreglass 1969 version; a retired plasterer who peeked inside and correctly identified the interior finish as "jazz plaster" says he'll dust off his trowel; many of the green neon "Westdale" letters are burned out – they'll be mounted inside the building since they're not original to 1935 – and a neon guy is ready to light them up again.

"We're calling it an 'urban barn raising' because we've got people coming to help," Mr. Crawford says.

To assist in this "raising," the group has a detailed Cultural Heritage Assessment Report, many original blueprints by Willard Bruce Riddell (the other architect was William James Walsh), and a handful of period photographs. Plus, more importantly, besides a few 1960s cover-ups, all of the art deco features are here. There are ziggurats over doors, a glowing ceiling, seashell shapes on metal grates, hammered iron railings, subway-tiled bathrooms, "jazz plaster" everywhere (it's been tested and there's no asbestos), projection equipment that's fit for a museum display, a second floor "crying room" for mothers and their babies, and wooden casement windows. There are even a few details that may be hiding under paint.

Other items that have been lost, such as the original doors with their appropriate, stacked ziggurat panes of glass, will be recreated since, stresses Mr. Crawford, "we are restoring this, we're not renovating."

New items will include state-of-the-art projection and sound equipment, wider seats, wheelchair seating, a better HVAC system, and a deco-appropriate snack bar. And because Westdale Cinema Group would like to see author's lectures, Ted Talks and small-scale plays take place here as well, the stage will be widened.

All of this costs money. To that end, Westdale Cinema Group, through their buildingmagic.ca website, is offering various donation opportunities, including the purchase of signed prints, light bulbs from the marquee, name plaques on seats and "your message on the marquee for a week."

Here's an idea for a message: "This is a big deal."