Put up for sale at the end of 2016, the Westdale Theatre likely would have never shown a film again had it not been for the not-for-profit Westdale Cinema Group
It’s been two days since the Bogart-Bergman classic flickered to life at Hamilton’s Westdale Theatre. And thank goodness a number of necks stuck themselves out for this once-and-again glamourous movie house. Put up for sale at the end of 2016, it likely would have never shown a movie again had it not been for the not-for-profit Westdale Cinema Group, which mobilized in January, 2017, and quickly came up with a deposit.
It’s not just the washrooms: Everything here is beautiful. The corrugated metal box with its large, illuminated letter-board no longer smothers the façade; instead, the hand-carved, Indiana limestone Comedy and Tragedy masks once again direct their gaze onto King Street West, just as they did until the 1969 renovation sucked away much of 1935. Below these is a more Deco-accurate, smaller marquee lovingly constructed by Sunset Neon.
It’s hard to believe these myriad details were gleaned from a handful of period photographs, all in black-and-white; in fact, the Vitrolite patterning was determined from just one photograph that had to be lightened up in Photoshop. The “jazz plaster” that covers most walls was a different story, however. While much of the peaks-and-valleys, stucco-like finish was untouched, many areas had been damaged by cover-ups or obliterated by water damage. Somehow, Schuit Plastering & Stucco was able to recreate the finish so well, the eye is completely fooled: “That’s original, this is not,” says Mr. Crawford, pointing to two identical patches of wall. “They were really, really good, they really cared about this.
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