Station Square movie theatre closes
Station Square Cinemas closed on Labour Day, Sept. 3, marking the end of an era for local moviegoers.
The seven-screened theatre opened in December 1988, back when neighbouring Save-On-Foods was arguably the latest and greatest in local supermarkets and DVDs had yet to emerge, not to mention the Internet.
"Really, it's just a matter of a lease that had expired and the theatre itself didn't really meet any longer our standards," said Mike Langdon, director of communications for the theatre operator, Cineplex Entertainment.
"We have a nearby theatre at Metropolis that will serve the community, so it just didn't meet our standards and with the lease expiring it was the ideal opportunity to move on."
Station Square was a "smaller theatre that didn't really meet the standards that we're aiming for so it was just an opportunity to close it down and really shift the focus to Metropolis," Langdon said, referring to its Silvercity theatre at Metropolis at Metrotown.
The theatre's 15 staff were all offered jobs at the company's other theatres, so there were no job losses in the closure, he noted.
Langdon said the upcoming redevelopment of Station Square mall was not a factor in the decision. That project will transform the almost-12-acre site, adding a proposed five towers for office and residential use, ranging in height from 35 to 57 storeys.
Burnaby's other remaining theatre, the Dolphin Cinema at 4555 Hastings St., is also slated for redevelopment into a four-storey mixed-use project.
While the theatre continues to operate, the developer, Heights Entertainment, has proposed that the project include 11 accessible rental units for people with disabilities through a partnership with the Vancouver Resource Society.
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
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