‘Absolutely devastating’: Fire destroys historic movie theatre in The Pas, Manitoba | CBC News

A nearly 100-year-old theatre in northern Manitoba is no more.

The Lido Theatre in The Pas, which dates to 1929, was consumed by flames and heavily damaged by water as two fire departments worked to extinguish the blaze on Monday.

“It’s a devastating loss for our community. I know a lot of people are upset,” said Mayor Andre Murphy.

Fire crews from The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation battled the flames together, he said.

“They fought it pretty well all day,” he said, but the structure is a total loss.

“The town will have to take the building down as quickly as possible so not to injure anybody in the neighbourhood.”

The theatre had been closed since the start of the pandemic in 2020. The town then acquired it through a taxation sale in November 2023 and had been tentatively planning a revitalization project to turn it into an arts centre.

“So our council had put forward about $50,000 this year to clean up the building to see what possibilities were there,” Murphy said. “I think that our community was getting excited.”

Former owner August Rivalin, whose great-grandfather was among the the Lido’s founding partners, said a friend called him at 6 a.m. Monday about the fire.

“I think I’m even still in shock,” he said. “For me, it wasn’t just a theatre, because I grew up in the building. My grandmother lived in there [in an upper-level apartment] and we used to have Christmas dinners in the building.

“One of the first pictures of my father holding me is in the basement when I’m six days old.”

The fire destroyed decades of historical artifacts, memorabilia and documents that were still inside the building, including the original blueprints and many of those old family photos.

The blueprints were not only for the construction of the three-storey building, but also for details such as how stars in the ceiling were laid out, Rivalin said.

The Lido was an atmospheric theatre, designed with facades of quaint buildings and other elements to evoke a sense of being outdoors.

It was designed by architect Max Zev Blankstein, who also designed several theatres, apartments, homes and warehouses in Winnipeg.

The Lido was the first theatre in Western Canada designed specifically for movies with sound, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

Rivalin had hoped to eventually frame the blueprints and exhibit them “somewhere where people could enjoy them.”

He also had a lot of personal belongings in the building and was working with the town on getting them back. Rivalin lived in one of the apartments until the theatre was sold.

“The material stuff, like whatever, you can buy more of that. But some of those artifacts, they’re irreplaceable,” he said.

Before he was forced to sell the theatre, Rivalin had hoped to restore it himself. He had been trying to get grants and donations, but it proved to be a struggle.

He was happy the town took ownership through the sale.

“I felt like that would be the best way for it to be preserved for another 100 years” as opposed to a private owner possibly tearing it down, he said.

Losing it is going to have a big impact on the community, he said.

“It was always such a hub of family-friendly fun. I think the fact that it’s gone in such a permanent way so quickly is a shock to everybody.”

There are likely “very few people” in town without a story about that theatre, Rivalin said.

“Many first dates and first movies for generations.”

Murphy counts himself among those with a reel of memories.

“We all went there for the Saturday matinees for 25 cents and got a bag of popcorn and a pop and a chocolate bar and then acted out the movie on the way home. So yeah, it is absolutely devastating,” he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Access to the building had been blocked, as it was not open to the public, Murphy said.