Level
Item
ID
Item 4294
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
4294
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[1925 or 1926]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Scope and Content
Identified third from left: William Shankman.
Notes
Photo by Midland Press Agency, 520 Suffolk St., Birmingham.
Subjects
Orchestra
Theaters
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Birmingham (England)
Accession Number
1987-9-5
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Architectural projects series
Loew's Uptown Theatre (Toronto) sub-series
Level
Sub-series
ID
Fonds 27; Series 1-2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Architectural projects series
Loew's Uptown Theatre (Toronto) sub-series
Level
Sub-series
Fonds
27
Series
1-2
Material Format
architectural drawing
graphic material
Date
1919-1968
Physical Description
132 architectural drawings : pencil (some on tracing paper, some hand col. using pencil crayon), blueprints and other reproductions ; 76 x 106 cm or smaller
5 photographs : b&w ; 44 x 55 cm or smaller
Admin History/Bio
One of sixteen theatres in Canada designed by the well-known architect Thomas W. Lamb, the Uptown Theatre opened in 1920 as a movie and vaudeville theatre of almost 3000 seats, and was later the first theatre in Toronto equipped for sound movies. In 1960 the Uptown's main auditorium was destroyed by a major fire. Kaplan & Sprachman participated in the theatre's subsequent renovation.
In 1969 the Uptown was split into a five screen theatre through conversion of the theatre's balcony, backstage and basement areas. The Uptown was closed and demolished in late 2003 following the 28th Annual Toronto International Film Festival after the cinema operator, Famous Players, decided to close it and other theatres rather than comply with an Ontario Human Rights Commission order to make the theatres fully wheelchair-accessible.
Scope and Content
Sub-series consists of seating plans, blueprints of structural details, floor plans, sections and elevations for successive alterations (to the entrance, lobby, escalator, etc.) of the theatre, as well as several photographs of the Uptown's entrance and auditorium. The sub-series includes a number of hand-coloured drawings of the main auditorium dating from 1962, with paint and fabric samples attached, apparently associated with the re-building of the auditorium following the fire of 1960. The sub-series also includes a set of photo-reproductions of Thomas Lamb's original 1919 plans for the theatre, acquired by Kaplan & Sprachman in 1960.
The sub-series is arranged in 9 sub-sub-series corresponding to project dates of 1919, 1936, 1945, 1949, 1960, 1962, and 1968. The final sub-sub-series relates to work done by Kaplan after the dissolution of Kaplan & Sprachman.
In several cases, a sub-sub-series includes drawings and plans from earlier projects, used as reference materials for the current project.
Name Access
Lamb, Thos. W. (Thomas White), 1871-1942
Uptown Theatre (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Theaters
Physical Condition
Some drawings torn or water-damaged. Some are discoloured or damaged by deteriorating pressure-sensitive tape.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
2003-6-1
Source
Archival Descriptions