The restored building at 1092 Queen Street West once housed the Avon Theatre. When I moved from the suburbs to downtown in the year 2000, the marquee above the doorway remained from the days when the building was the site of a 325-seat movie theatre. The marquee remained until Starbucks Coffee restored the building, which has a mansard roof with gable windows. The red-brick building is trimmed with stone and cement. Even today, it remains a handsome structure.
The building was constructed in 1887, the ground floor containing a fruit market, with apartments above it. It remained a retail outlet until 1915, when Child’s Theatre opened on the premises. This theatre lasted only a year, and then, it became King’s Hall and King’s Playhouse Theatre, operated by Mr. King Hyman. In 1950, it became the Avon Theatre.
The south facade of the old Avon Theatre at Queen West and Dovercourt Road.
The 1887 building that was once the Avon Theatre
To view the Home Page for this blog: https://tayloronhistory.com/
To view previous blogs about other old movie houses of Toronto
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/12/18/torontos-old-movie-theatrestayloronhistory-com/
To view links to Toronto’s Heritage Buildings
https://tayloronhistory.com/2014/01/02/canadas-cultural-scenetorontos-architectural-heritage/
Recent publication entitled “Toronto’s Theatres and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen,” by the author of this blog. The publication explores 50 of Toronto’s old theatres and contains over 80 archival photographs of the facades, marquees and interiors of the theatres. It also relates anecdotes and stories from those who experienced these grand old movie houses.
![cid_E474E4F9-11FC-42C9-AAAD-1B66D852[1]](https://tayloronhistory.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/cid_e474e4f9-11fc-42c9-aaad-1b66d852130.jpg "cid_E474E4F9-11FC-42C9-AAAD-1B66D852[1]")
To place an order for this book:
I remember the marquee when I moved into the ‘hood in 2001. It was a rent-to-own store then.