Edmonton’s Garneau Theatre celebrates 85 years

Near the University of Alberta sits one of Edmonton’s oldest theatres — the Garneau — which was built in 1940, and Friday is the theatre’s 85th birthday.

“It’s pretty cool to be here to celebrate such a big birthday,” said Dan Smith, the executive director of Metro Cinema, which is run through the current Garneau operator.

He says the theatre is still alive today thanks to donations and public funding.

Smith says the true theatre experience and unique movie screenings have allowed the building to survive eight and a half decades, even with the rise of streaming services.

“We program a lot of really cool, interesting, different stuff that otherwise probably wouldn’t end up on the screen here in Edmonton, and so that kind of that sort of widens our appeal. We get a lot of different community voices involved in the programming as well,” said Smith.

The building underwent several renovations throughout its lifetime, but it still has remnants from the past that are still functional today.

“When we do have a 35 mm print. It plays off of these two projectors here,” Smith explained.

Old tech is still being used and is able to premiere local and indie movies, where the filmmaker chooses to use film.

“It’s a beautiful building, and you know, as we sort of maintain and update and do things in this building. We’re always trying to make sure that we can sort of retain the aesthetic and the sort of nostalgic character of the building,” said Smith.

To celebrate Garneau Theatre’s 85th birthday, Metro Cinema is putting on a 12-hour movie marathon, overnight Friday into Saturday morning.