The show’s over for Yellowknife’s only movie theatre | CBC News
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A staple business in Yellowknife has closed its doors.
The Capitol Theatre’s final day of operations was Tuesday. For years, it struggled with turnout.
But not on Tuesday.
The line stretched all the way from the ticket stand, down a flight of stairs and out the door.
Jonny Vu is a film fanatic.
He says the theatre is like church to him.
Without it, Vu says he’s not sure what he’ll do next.
“I come almost every week,” said Vu. “I saved every single ticket since I’ve been here for five years.”
The independent theatre’s owners announced last month it would be closing for good come end of March. Now, for the first time in decades, Yellowknife residents won’t have a local cinema.
The Capitol Theatre stood on the corner of Franklin Avenue and 52 Street since 1975. It originally opened in 1947 in another building nearby. It was the second movie theatre in Yellowknife.
The Pioneer theatre was the first to open in Old Town in the late 1930s and closed years ago.
Rob Hart is another moviegoer. He said he was happy to be at the theatre one last time, but it was a bittersweet feeling.
“It hits you in the feels,” Hart said.
He can still remember watching The Lost Boys, a film that came out in 1987 with a friend.
“It was a late night showing, we got out at like 2:00 a.m.,” Hart said. “We walked out to a summer Yellowknife, that orange light in the sky and it felt like we were still in The Lost Boys movie.”
Does he now drive to the next closest cinema in Hay River when the next major movie hits the big screen? Fly to Edmonton? Hart said he doesn’t know. And it’s a question others will have to ask themselves now too.
“It’s wild to think of,” said Hart. “But you’ve got to do something.”
Toni Anderson says she’s lived in the city for a decade. She said she recently had to break the news to her own child.
“My eight-year-old son came up to me the other day. He’s like, ‘it’s almost April 1, we’re going to go to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie!’ and I had to be like ‘no you’re not, bud.’”
Anderson said going to the theatre was a bonding opportunity for her family. Without it, she says they’ll have to rely on the city’s other community spaces, like the Aquatic Centre.
Capitol Theatre manager Chris Wood said he’s not surprised by the large turnout on the theatre’s last day.
“I can’t help but feel though, if we had this kind of business for the last few years, that maybe we wouldn’t be at the point we’re at now,” he said. “But I’m touched.”