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The Theatre Roots of Hamilton

The Tivoli Theatre

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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The Tivoli Theatre was a historic rollercoster. Playing live theatre, then movies, and live theatre again, being owned by the subject of Canada's biggest mystery, and having many ghosts and energies.

Front of the Old Tivoli Theatre
Once located on James Street at York Blvd

The front building, now a gaping hole, was once a carriage factory. In 1875 the factory was built to satisfy transportation needs for a booming industrial city called Hamilton. This would last for only 6 years, closing up in 1881 as the need increased... with other local carriage factories.

The building remained empty until 1907 when a new community started to rise… the theatre community. The factory was converted to a small store theatre, with about 200 seats, that would show live vaudeville acts. Over 16 years as a live theatre, the building changed names three times, from the Wonderland, to the Colonial, and finally The Princess.

The third time wasn’t the charm. Many exclaimed “Vaudeville’s dead!” and the moving picture was the future. This began the time of the single movie-houses.

They opened all over the city, making Hamilton a forward thinking, or ambitious place. This included the impressive Capital Theatre{linktoDTGW} on King Street (at the corner of John Street).

The Capital was very popular with many silent films starring Charlie Chaplin, news reels and even cartoons. All 2,000 seats would be regularly filled, showing a need for more movie centres in the city.

In 1924, the Tivoli Theatre was built and opened by Andrew Ross. An interesting coincidence is that Mr. Ross owned a carriage factory on King Street (now the Denningers building). A ghost sign was recently found when an abandoned building was removed. It showed “Andrew Ross Carriage and Wagon Builder”, with Coca-Cola (for only $0.05 a bottle) below it.

The old carriage factory was converted into an impressive lobby and a new auditorium was built behind it. It was built to impress and compete with the Capital, the city’s crown theatre jewel at the time.

It’s very possible that the very first “talkie” film ever played in Canada was at the Tivoli. There is some confusion lost to history, but we know for sure the Tivoli was either first or third.

A “talkie” was the combining of voice and film, moving away from the traditional silent film. This was the beginning of the modern movie, but not the best start. In most cases a “talkie” would have local actors standing behind the movie screen, reading along with a script to make the illusion of voices on screen.

Smoking an Issue
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In the 1940’s, smoking a cigarette was cool thanks for many of the great actors of the day. Most of the movies being played at the Tivoli featured smoking, so it was no surprise that many people would excuse themselves to a hidden spot and light up a butt.

For men this spot was outside of the restroom. At that time the men’s room was located off the balcony, right beside the projector’s booth. This was perfect because they could lean over the balcony and not miss a moment of the movie. The down side was ashes and cigarette butts that fell into the below crowd.

The owners were concerned and hired a government inspector to assess the problem. He reported his biggest worry in an official report. He was afraid that, “lit ashes or a cigarette butt would light a woman’s hat on fire, or if their hair is done up with flammable spray”.

12 years after the report, the balcony was turned into an official smoker’s area. Showing that smoking was the popular choice even back then, many patrons requested the auditorium seats so they wouldn’t “choke on the smoke” while enjoying the movie.

The Building fell Down
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For almost 100 years the Tivoli Theatre buildings were the centre for entertainment in the city. This came to an end in 2004. During the ownership of Sam Sniderman (of the Sam the Record Man music store), the building was left to the elements. Even though it was open to the public, not $1 of renovation money was put into the decaying structure.

He owned it from 1989, paying $1.7 million and opening a Hamilton Sam store. Even though it was not the best situation for a paying customer, nothing was ever so bad that the government need step in.

It came as a surprise to only a few when a side wall collapsed into the building. This left a gaping hole on the South-side of the building, and a reason for the government to get involved.

City contractors rushed in to assess and found the building was unstable. Plans were made, and when done the entire 1875 building was a memory. The auditorium was saved because this was a newer structure and not in danger of collapse (yet).

The city of Hamilton sent a bill to Sam Sniderman for $300,000, the cost of demolition. Sam told the National Post that “regretted ever buying the Tivoli Theatre”, and he hopes “the insurance will cover it”.

Today the auditorium still stands, without a head, and not one finger put towards restoration. The National Ballet Company of Canada owns the space, but at the time of this article, plans for rebuilding are just a dream.

Ambrose Small and the Tivoli on the Next Page >>

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