May 20, 2013

Towne Theatre Interior: Main Cinema

From the lobby of the abandoned Towne Theatre, I made my way into the main cinema. With only a couple of the lights at the back working, this is where the theatre really started to feel abandoned. The carpet was dirty, some of the seats were badly stained, and the wall drapery was tattered. No question, the Towne has seen better days than this. Even so, through all the rough spots I could still see the place that I'd frequented so many times growing up.

towne theatre medicine hat photography
towne theatre medicine hat photography
At the front of the theatre the golden curtain still hung above the stage. A small opening in the curtain revealed that the screen had been taken down and was now lying on the floor. I imagine it was taken down to remove the speakers that were behind it. That's probably what happened to a lot of the drapery on the walls as well. Nothing else was behind the curtain except a brick wall and a wooden frame.  

towne theatre medicine hat photography



Down the stairs behind the screen I had a quick look at the original boiler in the basement. There are a few small rooms down there that were perhaps dressing rooms at one time. They're all empty now, but if I'm not mistaken it seems like they must have done some theatre productions here way back when. 

towne theatre medicine hat photography


Just off of the stage a small room revealed a few more interesting clues from the Towne's past. A few theatre employees had scribbled their names on the wall from over the years. There weren't all that many, but they did span from the 1970s to the late 1990s, which was pretty cool to see. It's always interesting to think about the people in places like this, especially considering that this theatre would've been packed on opening nights every weekend. Now it's just a dark and quiet room collecting dust. 
From here it was on to the projection rooms. 

towne theatre medicine hat photography




































3 comments :

Anonymous said...

i took the screen down and pulled the speakers out about 4yrs ago... the building has not really been touched since then.

Editing Luke said...

Thanks for the update. I assumed the speaker removal was the reason the screen was down. The realtor who let me in to the building also confirmed that the space hasn't been rented or used for any event since closing.

Anonymous said...

The Towne was such a big part of my growing up here. I saw The Outsiders three times by myself, it was the first film I could go to without a parent. Thanks for sharing your images.