Curtain falls on Capitol theatre

Sat, April 22, 2006

Developer Shmuel Farhi plans to turn the long-in-the-tooth landmark into a parking lot.

By IAN GILLESPIE, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST



One of London's longtime downtown landmarks, the Capitol theatre on Dundas Street, has been sold to local developer Shmuel Farhi, who says he plans to turn it into a parking lot.

The owner of Farhi Holdings Corp. said yesterday he desperately needs the 50 or so potential parking spaces at the Capitol site to accommodate his downtown tenants.

"I could take the tenants we have (downtown) and try to relocate them to other parts of town," said Farhi.

"But then the city becomes like a doughnut, (with) everything going to the outskirts and inside we have a hole. That's not what we need."

Former Londoner Peter McNaughton, a co-owner of the 86-year-old theatre, also confirmed the deal.

"If (the Capitol) had been designated heritage, we'd have approached things differently," said McNaughton, who operates a law firm in Ottawa.

"But it never has been (designated a heritage building). And I suspect the best use for that thing is not as a theatre," said McNaughton.

He said he and the handful of other co-owners, some of whom live in the Toronto area, inherited the property, originally owned by McNaughton's late uncle, Fred Hiscox.

Built in 1920 and originally known as the Allen, the Capitol boasted an old-style box office, a long cavernous lobby and a curving mirrored wall. It had 1,200 seats before it was "twinned" into two theatres in the late 1970s.

McNaughton said the Capitol had been leased to Famous Players for most of its existence.

"It's still standing, but it would take a lot of work to get that into shape for anything," said McNaughton.

"I think Dundas Street needs more than a hollowed-out old building like that . . . I think it's probably progress."

A city hall official said no application for demolition has been made, but anticipated no obstacles to an application.

"It's not a designated historical building," said Rocky Cerminara, London's director of building controls. "It's a building that is 'of interest' on the (heritage) list, but it's a commercial building; therefore, there are no municipal controls to prohibit its demolition."

Farhi said he owns about 350,000 square feet of property in the area around Clarence and Dundas streets, and that such an area demands about 1,200 parking spaces.

But, he said, before buying the Capitol site, he only controlled about 21 downtown parking spots -- far too few to attract and keep tenants.

Farhi said he plans to preserve the streetfront facade of the Capitol and will likely demolish the rear of the building soon.

He added the Capitol is "an eyesore" that blighted the area.

"Downtown London is like somebody with cancer," he said. "It needs radiation. It doesn't need a Tylenol."

One downtown retailer, Vanessa Brown at Attic Books, said the Capitol theatre should be preserved because it's the only remnant of London's golden age of movie houses.

And a local heritage advocate said he's saddened by the news.

"It's the last old theatre in downtown London," said Joe O'Neil, chairperson of the London advisory committee on heritage. "And to buy an historic building with plans of tearing it down just seems . . . icky."

But longtime downtown businessperson John Nash said he had no objections to demolishing the old cinema.

"That building is so decrepit, if they can tear it down, I'm all for it," said Nash, who operates Nash Jewellers on Dundas Street. "I'm normally a heritage person . . . but that one's done."

A local cinema manager who investigated the idea of reviving the Capitol cinema said he concluded such a scheme wasn't feasible.

"It's no good as a movie theatre," said Tom Hutchinson, co-owner of Magic Lantern Theatres, which operates about 20 cinemas across Canada, including Rainbow Cinema in Galleria London.

Hutchinson estimated that in addition to spending at least $800,000 to buy the site, it would take at least $1 million to renovate the structure.

"We're not a large-enough company to deal with something like that," he said, adding it's difficult to attract patrons to a downtown cinema.

"Many of the families have moved to the outskirts (of London)," he said. "And it's not a state-of-the-art stadium seating, curved-screen, cup-holder type of theatre. I don't know what you'd put in there."

The head of the London Downtown Business Association echoed those comments.

"It's a nice facade, but there are practicalities that come into the scenario," said Bob Usher, association chairperson. "Old uses that were viable 25 or 30 years ago start to change."