A gathering of more than 150 people met at Greenwood College School Monday night to discuss how the 91-year-old Regent Theatre may be saved as part of the cultural heritage of Midtown Toronto. The theatre, at 511 Mt. Pleasant Rd. started life in 1927 as the Belsize Theatre. There have been two name changes, Crest in 1954 and Regent in 1988, It appears the original name was taken from the Belsize Park district of London. Monday’s meeting was convened by Ward 22 Councillor Josh Matlow who spoke of his affection for the Regent and of having escorted his mother there before her recent death. The building is for sale by the family that has owned it for many years at a proposed price of $9 million. The family is apparently prepared to hear from the community but remains free to sell the property at any time. The challenge to this salvation is in the enormous value of the theatre’s on-the-street real estate. Mr. Matlow joked that any angel donor in the crowd with this amount of cash was welcome to leave it behind. Donors are not unknown, as described by Lorie Martin, Senior Cultural Affairs Officer of the City of Toronto
ARTSCAPE AND REVUE CINEMA
She has overseen projects such as the west-end car barns, a project that was expanded into the Artscape Wychwood Barns through a $500,000 donation. The car barns however were, and are, publicly-owned. Another speaker was Mark Elwood, a director with the Revue Film Society. This is a group that ten years ago saved and developed the 106-year-old Revue Theatre on Roncesvalles Ave. into a functioning and modestly profitable film venue and community hub. The Revue is the oldest movie theatre in Canada.
