Up in Ontario

Ridge Theatre Closing Forever Dec. 23

After 55 years of operation in Vancouver at the intersection of Arbutus and W. 16th Avenue, The Ridge Theatre will be closing its doors on December 23 for the last time. As loyal Up in Ontario readers will remember, The Ridge is the clear winner of Vancouver's Best Theatre Popcorn and my favourite place to see a picture show. The staff and management of The Ridge have a message on their website for their long time fans, who are loyal and legion:

November 25, 2005: The management and staff of the Ridge are truly heartbroken to announce that in late December of this year the theatre will be undergoing a change in ownership. Lease negotiations between the Ridge and the property owners began this summer in an attempt to deal with a substantial increase in operating expenses, largely tied to a 16% increase in property taxes, but these talks were unfortunately unsuccessful.

When it opened its doors in April 1950, the Ridge Theatre was hailed as “…a miracle of modern architecture and construction” boasting the latest in projection equipment and creature comforts. In the late 1970s the Ridge became a repertory or “second run” theatre, a role that continues to this day. Although the baton has been lovingly passed from hand to hand over the years, those of us behind the scenes at the Ridge have always made it our priority to provide Vancouver’s theatre goers with the best all-around moviegoing experience, a mission we regret deeply that we will no longer be able to fulfill. It’s no understatement that for many of us here, life will not be the same.

The Ridge was recently named “Best Second-Run Theatre” by the readers of the Georgia Straight, a fitting, if somewhat sad, honour under the circumstances. That said, what better way to part company than with the support of the?community we have always cherished and striven to serve.

Our last screening will be long time Ridge favourite the World's Best Commercials on December 23, after which we'll say good-bye and thank you, Vancouver.

Thanks for your support & interest over the years...

...the staff & management of the Ridge Theatre.

Over the seven+ years I've been attending The Ridge they've consistently done a great job of showing interesting (not always in my taste, but always interesting) movies. You could tell they put some thought into how they ran the place and what they showed, and it showed. Their double bills paired movies that either worked well together (thematically, subject-wise, genre-wise) or juxtaposed each other well. I believe the staff and management of The Ridge are set now to run The Park Cinema and Fifth Avenue Cinemas, so let's hope the best is yet to come.

Apparently there'll also be a fire sale when they do close, so I'm thinking of making a bid for their exceptional popcorn machine. Think of the years of seasoning it has accumulated - irreplaceable! We'll be heading up this evening to take in the farewell performance of World's Best Commercials and we may need a moving van or pickup coming back.