(613) 789-FILM
|
|
|
|
BYTOWNE FILM GUIDE | About the ByTowne | |
|
| 325 Rideau Street (613) 789-FILM |
|
||||
|
About the ByTowneThe ByTowne Cinema, located at 325 Rideau Street, is Ottawa's premiere independent theatre. Featuring independent & foreign films in a large locally owned & operated theatre, that has been part of the Ottawa landscape for over 50 years.
History of the Theatre Admission PricesThe ByTowne's admission prices - taxes included - are$9.00 for non-members Unless otherwise noted, separate admission is required for each film. These same rates apply at all shows 7 days per week, except for some special events and benefit screenings. You must present a valid membership card to obtain the member's discount (see ByTowne Memberships below. Where Do I Pick Up A ByTowne Guide?The bi-monthly ByTowne Guide, with its handy calendar pages featuring our entire film schedule at a glance, is available at various locations in the city.
Try your neighbourhood coffee bar, bar, restaurant, music store, bookshop,
library, or newsstand. Head for your nearest mall, locate the music shop or
bookstore, and chances are pretty good that you'll find a ByTowne Guide. If you
don't succeed in your quest, call the cinema's business office at 789-4600 and
we'll direct you to a location near your home or place of work where the
ByTowne Guide can be found.
You can have the ByTowne Guide mailed every two months to your home by
becoming a ByTowne Member. See "ByTowne Memberships" below.
MembershipsByTowne memberships cost $10.00 and are valid for 12 months from the time of purchase.The membership card entitles you to the discounted admission price of $6.00 per film and a mailing list subscription to receive the bi-monthly ByTowne Guide. You may purchase a membership at the box office when you join us for a movie. The total cost is then $15.00 - $10.00 for the membership plus $6.00 for your admission at member's rate. The membership card should be signed in the space provided and must be presented at the box office every time - otherwise you will not obtain the member's discount. If you wish to receive the ByTowne Guide by mail, simply fill out the mailing list form available from the cashier at the time of membership purchase. Please note that we do not offer the free mailing to members who live in the K1N postal code region. Please note that ByTowne membership cards are not transferable; it is for your personal use only. And sorry, we do not replace lost or stolen cards.
You may also purchase a membership through the mail at the slightly higher cost of $11.00. ByTowne Cinema,and a clearly visible return address also helps (that's where the extra $1 comes in) to cover the postage cost of mailing your new membership card back to you. History of the TheatreThe BuildingLocal entrepreneur Hyman Berlin built the Nelson cinema through the fall and winter of 1946, and opened the doors on February 10th, 1947.Postwar optimism was running high, and television hadn't yet begun to compete with the movies for people's precious leisure time. According to the full page ad in the Ottawa Citizen which trumpeted the grand opening of the Nelson, the cinema had all the modern conveniences, including an air conditioning system and the very best in 'terrazzo' flooring. The first film was something called Johnny Frenchman and admission was 25 cents. Of course, if you wished to be seated in the 'loge' (balcony), where you could smoke, admission was steeper at 35 cents. There were 980 seats in the Nelson when it opened its doors, but they must not have been filled to capacity: Johnny Frenchman closed in less than two weeks, and hasn't been heard of since. The HistoryOnly a few years after opening, Mr. Berlin leased the building to the Famous Players chain of cinemas, an arrangement which lasted nearly forty years. A candy bar was put in sometime during the 1950s, and was later moved to its present location. In the early '60s, the Nelson was improved with a bigger screen and 70mm projection facilities. The seats were replaced too, with a more spacious layout that reduced the number of seats to about 790. With the new equipment, the Nelson became home to many long-running film 'events'. "The Sound Of Music" enjoyed a very long tenure, followed by other grand musicals like "Funny Girl". Patrons might recall seeing "El Cid", "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "The Exorcist" here for the first time. Later, the cinema played host to big box-office hits like "Jaws", "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", "Star Trek" and some of their respective sequels.In 1988, with Famous Players pursuing a policy of abandoning their single-screen cinemas in favour of new multiplexes, the Berlin family sold the building. It became the ByTowne, continuing an independent programming policy that had been started at the Towne Cinema (on Beechwood Ave.) back in 1973. And the rest is history. | ||||
|
|
