The Cineplex Odeon opened around 1987. I was awed by it’s huge, bold, neon marquee, so I had to paint it and it became my first acrylic on canvas, Vancouver City Scene.
The theatre, I first assumed, had simply replaced the old Coronet Theatre, but after seeing a few films there, I began to realize that the main property was a new building which was built on the south side of the old Coronet. Theatres 6 and 7 were still the old Coronet building with narrow stairs and some of the old decorative features in theatre 6. Later, I learned that a third building, The Palms Hotel was also included in this property. Its interior was razed to be replaced by theatres 1 and 2 while its heritage facade was preserved. Only the middle entrance, under the marquee, represented a brand new structure that fully replaced a building (or buildings) that have since been forgotten.
The neon marquee was my main subject in this piece, so I took a lot of artistic license when I decided to paint in non-existent store fronts on either side of the main building. These, otherwise, were dark exit doors. But I wanted to present the feeling of all the lights and window shopping experience of Granville at night. But now, I kinda kick myself for not including ‘The Dancer’ bass relief, which can still be seen on the upper floors of the old Coronet building.
Funny how time goes by. Capturing history was never part of the plan when I painted this.
The movie titles on the marquee weren’t all playing there in 1989, I just chose some titles I liked at the time.
The Cineplex Odeon (by then, The Empire Granville 7 Cinemas) finally closed on November 4, 2012