By Juliet O’Neill and John Chenier
Two major pieces of our 15-minute city disappeared at the end of 2020. The ByTowne Cinema finally shut down permanently, unable to survive yet another lockdown and low revenue because of the pandemic restriction of 50 patrons per showing. A similar absence of patrons led to the closure of Lowertown’s only hardware store, Trudel Hardware at 170 George Street.
ByTowne Cinema owner Bruce White will be on a quest to sell the cinema but not yet. He’s waiting until COVID19 restrictions are over and he has some bargaining power. He says he won’t be re-opening it himself.
White said his optimism about staying open, reported in the last edition of The Echo, drained away when it became apparent the authorities wouldn’t be allowing more than 50 patrons in the 650-seat cinema, and another lockdown was in the works.
For the moment, he’s selling personal messages on the theatre’s marquee to help pay utilities and property taxes. The price is $100 for one side, or $150 for both for 24 hours. Email cinemail@bytowne.ca to book.
The cinema has a ton of fans, who poured out their memories and love for the repertory cinema on social media when the shutdown was announced.
But White said he doesn’t want them to buy messages as an act of charity to pay the bills. “I want to do it for people who want to see their name up in lights.”
Charles-Antoine Bachand proposed to Stéphanie Demers on the marquee. She accepted.
White’s favourite so far was from a couple celebrating their anniversary with a pandemic joke: “Nothing can mask our love.”
It’s a different story over at the hardware store where continuing under new ownership is not an option. Trudel’s had been a Lowertown fixture since 1925, beginning with a shop next to Ogilvy’s on Rideau Street, moving from there to Besserer at Nicholas before moving finally, to the George Street location.
The closure means that people needing a washer for their garden hose or a graffiti artist looking for can of spray paint will have to take a car, bike or bus and travel at least six kilometres to the closest hardware store.
A number of things contributed to the decision to close the store. Prominent among them was the loss of clientele as the surrounding office buildings emptied out — some permanently closed and converted to student residences, others empty as a result of work-from-home edicts as part of the pandemic. All this coincided with the expiration of the current lease and subsequently, the decision not to renew at a higher rent.
Given the value of development property in the downtown core, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for these two locations. There has been some interest in reviving the cinema, but whether a means to do this can be found remains to be seen.
It is unlikely another hardware store would locate on George Street, but Sandy Hill and Lowertown should be able to support a hardware store with a footprint similar to Capital Home Hardware in the Glebe or others in the urban areas of the city, like Little Italy and Westboro.. Perhaps the new commercial space in the Trinity development at Rideau and Chapel could yield an answer.