Landmark Cinemas announces closure of Kitchener theatre

Credits are about to roll on Landmark Cinemas in Kitchener.

The theatre on Gateway Park Drive in the King Street East and Sportsworld Drive area is getting ready to close its doors permanently.

A notice on Landmark Cinemas’ website said the Kitchener location will be closed as of this Friday and the last day of operations will be Thursday.

The company has operated the location since 2013.

Ryan Dion is the VP of operations at Landmark Cinemas Canada and he said in an interview with CityNews Kitchener that because of the lease expiring and the company not being able to come to a new agreement with the landlord, they have chosen to close its doors.

“We’ve been working on a potential extension of the lease with the landlord and just due to the economics of theatre, we weren’t able to come to a lease extension that worked for everybody.”

The theatre thanked movie lovers for their support over the years.

Customers are being encouraged to check out Landmark Cinemas’ newly revamped theatre at The Boardwalk in Waterloo.

“We’ve recently transitioned it to full recliners, implemented the IMAX experience, our laser-ultra experience and our premiere seating experience,” said Dion. “Based on what’s happening in the market, and the needs of the movie-going experience in the region, we’ve decided to focus on the Waterloo location.”

Dion reminisced about the Gateway Park Drive theatre being a prime location for him and his family throughout the years.

“It’s got a long history in the market. It started as Famous Players, it was an Empire Theatres and then purchased by Landmark in 2013-2014,” he said. “For me personally, the IMAX theatre was the only one in the area and it was my go-to auditorium to go to the theatre. It’s a theatre I saw a lot of movies with my son and my family in and so I’m sure a lot of people have that same memory.”

Dion said about 20 part-time cast members that work at the Gateway Park Drive location in Kitchener will have the opportunity to speak with the team at The Boardwalk in Waterloo. The full-time management team at the Kitchener location will be moving to the Waterloo location.

“They are all being taken care of,” said Dion. “They have the opportunity to speak with the team at the Waterloo location and depending on the availability and what we have going on with cast levels, we’ll take each one on a case-by-case basis.”

He added that after they close, they will celebrate with the cast members and managers for all the hard work each member put into that location.