The University Theatre was for several decades one of the premier movie cinemas in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It was located on Bloor Street

Bloor Street

Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct westward into Mississauga, where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same...

 just west of Yonge Street

Yonge Street

Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...

 in an area that was once home to a number of cinemas, most notably the Uptown Theatre

Uptown Theatre (Toronto)

The Uptown Theatre was a historic movie theatre in Toronto, Ontario which was demolished in 2003. The entrance to the theatre was located on Yonge Street just south of Bloor. Like many theatres of the time it was constructed so that only the entrance was on a major thoroughfare while the main...

, and was a centre for the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

. At the time of its closing it was the largest movie house in Canada.

The University Theatre opened in 1949, and aimed to be the premier cinema in the city. It was a single screen theatre that sat some 1300 people. The first film shown was Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...

's Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc (1948 film)

Joan of Arc is a 1948 Technicolor film directed by Victor Fleming; starring Ingrid Bergman as the French religious icon and war heroine. It was produced by Walter Wanger. It is based on Maxwell Anderson's successful Broadway play Joan of Lorraine, which also starred Bergman, and was adapted for the...

. The cinema would host many of the most important films, and for major productions would use reserved seating where patrons would buy specific seats well ahead of time. The cinema also helped introduce new technologies to Toronto such as CinemaScope

CinemaScope

CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...

 and 70 mm film

70 mm film

70mm film is a wide high-resolution film gauge, with higher resolution than standard 35mm motion picture film format. As used in camera, the film is wide. For projection, the original 65mm film is printed on film. The additional 5mm are for magnetic strips holding four of the six tracks of sound...

.

In 1981 owner Famous Players announced plans to demolish the theatre. One screen cinemas were no longer economic in the era of the multiplex

Multiplex (movie theater)

A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens, typically three or more. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an...

. For several years a campaign was waged by film aficionados and heritage groups to keep the cinema open. Among those who voiced their opposition to its closing was mayor Art Eggleton

Art Eggleton

Arthur "Art" C. Eggleton, PC is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and Mayor of Toronto, and is currently a Senator representing Ontario.-City council:...

 and local city councillor Ron Kanter

Ron Kanter

Ronald M. Kanter is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990.-Background:...

. This delayed its closing, but did not prevent it. It shuttered soon after the 1986 film festival, where it hosted the gala opening screening of The Decline of the American Empire. It was also agreed that the unique facade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

 of the building would be preserved. Thus when the theatre was torn down the front wall was left standing, with a scaffolding at the rear supporting it. Sadly, the facade was allowed to deteriorate over the years and when the redevelopment of the property began, it was deemed necessary to pull down the facade. What is seen today is in reality, only a reproduction (albeit a picturesque and very accurate reproduction) of the original facade.

One of the prime reasons for its demise was that the property owners though they could get far more value from the land at one of the most exclusive sites in Toronto. However, soon after the theatre was demolished, the 1980s property boom collapsed. The abandoned facade, meant to be a temporary measure, was left in place for well over a decade. With the revival of the property market in the late 1990s developments were again proposed for the site. The first plan called for a new nine screen cinema to be topped with a 26 floor condominium. However, the cinema plans were abandoned and the building was constructed with retail along Bloor Street. Today the rebuilt facade of the University serves as the entrance to a Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn is an American-based home furnishing store chain with retail stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Since September 1986, when it was purchased from GAP, Inc, Pottery Barn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma, Inc....

outlet.