The NEW Mayfair theatre

I went to the GRAND reopening!

History of the theatre

http://mayfairtheatre.ca

This year the Mayfair is celebrating its 76th Anniversary. One of Canada’s oldest surviving independent movie theatres, the City of Ottawa has recently recommended its designation as an official heritage building for its unique architectural and cultural value to the City.

Built in 1932 in the depths of the Great Depression, it is one of Ottawa’s last two neighbourhood movie theatres, and it owns the distinction (and some might say honour) of never having been owned by or affiliated with any of the major movie theatre chains.

Not only has the Mayfair stood for generations as an essential component of the life and character of Old Ottawa South, it has contributed greatly to the cultural life of the Glebe, Old Ottawa East and the larger Ottawa community.

In addition to providing a venue for classic and current cinema from around the world, it plays a valuable role as a gathering space for the community, providing a convenient and affordable
auditorium for meetings, special screenings, festivals and fundraisers. Countless local filmmakers, community groups and businesspeople have made use of it over the years.

The Mayfair is notable for the fact that it contains a number of architectural features that make it unique in Ottawa, and possibly in Canada. It is one of the few surviving examples of an “atmospheric cinema”, built with a particular theme to enhance the movie-going experience and draw the movie-goer into the world of the imagination. The same architectural features that were incorporated into its interior design in 1932 – the detailing that suggests a Spanish-style villa – have been virtually untouched over these past seventy-six years.