© 2024, Christian Cassidy
Place: Mac's Building
Address: 585 Ellice Avenue (Map)
Built: 1912
Architect: John D. Atchison. (Also see)
Builder: John A. Moxam Construction
The Mac's Building was designed in 1912 by John D. Atchison, one of Winnipeg's foremost architects of the early 1900s.
This would have been a small project for Atchison as he had already designed the original Assiniboine Park Pavillion (1908), Maltese Cross Building on King Street (1909), Great-West Life Building on Lombard Avenue (1911), and Union Trust / National Bank Building (1912).
July 1913, Manitoba Free Press
I can't find period newspaper mentions of the building's construction. This would have been a small suburban project, hardly newsworthy compared to the banking halls and high-rise office towers rising in the downtown during one of Winnipeg's busiest construction years.
The block was built for and presumably named after local developer and real estate agent Neil T. MacMillan. MacMillan's involvement could help explain how the services of an architect of Atchison's stature were acquired for such a small project.
MacMillan's real estate firm, MacMillan and Vollans, marketed several lots in and around Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street in the previous decade. A building they commissioned on one of their properties was the Casa Loma block in 1909.
MacMillan likely kept this corner lot for himself as his next company, N. T. MacMillan Co., managed the Mac's Building for several years after it opened.
Born
in West Elgin, Ontario, MacMillan came to Manitoba as a young man in
the 1890s and settled in Morden where he got into the grain trade. He
relocated to Winnipeg in 1903 where he took an interest in the city's lucrative real
estate market and was first elected to the board of the Winnipeg Real Estate
Exchange in 1906.
MacMillan was also a long-time member of the Winnipeg Industrial and Development Bureau and served as its president in 1908 and 1909.
Due to his varied business interests and position with Industrial Bureau, MacMillan travelled throughout North America on business and was a great booster of Winnipeg and its fortunes. In a 1907 Winnipeg Tribune interview he even managed to put a positive spin on the city's weather by stating: "The climactic conditions here make it one of the healthiest on the continent."
The N. T. MacMillan Co. was an active real estate and property management company until 1924 when MacMillan relocated to Orange City, Florida. He continued to dabble in Florida real estate until 1929 and died in Jacksonville, Florida in May 1931.
University of Winnipeg Archives, Western Canada Pictorial Index,
City of Winnipeg Hydro Collection – A1791, 58507
MacMillan was also a long-time member of the Winnipeg Industrial and Development Bureau and served as its president in 1908 and 1909.
Due to his varied business interests and position with Industrial Bureau, MacMillan travelled throughout North America on business and was a great booster of Winnipeg and its fortunes. In a 1907 Winnipeg Tribune interview he even managed to put a positive spin on the city's weather by stating: "The climactic conditions here make it one of the healthiest on the continent."
The N. T. MacMillan Co. was an active real estate and property management company until 1924 when MacMillan relocated to Orange City, Florida. He continued to dabble in Florida real estate until 1929 and died in Jacksonville, Florida in May 1931.
City of Winnipeg Hydro Collection – A1791, 58507
The
Mac's Building has had several owners over the decades. The block
wasn't large enough for its various sales to be newsworthy but building
permit information helps piece together an approximate timeline of its
owners.
MacMillan kept the building until at least 1917 and it was bought by the Union Bank / Royal Bank in the early 1920s. It was then owned for decades by the various operators of its cinema, including Western Theatres in the 1930s, Allied Amusements from the 1940s to 1960s, and the Holunga family from the 1970s to the early 2000s.
In more recent decades, it was owned by New Life Ministries from 2004 to 2013. The Adam Beach Film Institute acquired it in 2014. Andrew Davidson, author of the novel The Gargoyle, purchased it in 2019.
The building's exterior has remained remarkably unchanged in its 112 years.
The Mac's is not a large building but it has three distinct sections. This post is divided into the main floor retail space, upstairs suites, and Mac's Theatre.
Top: October 23, 1908, The Voice
The first retail tenant of the Mac's building was pharmacist Joseph R. Robinson of Gertrude Street who relocated his practice here from Logan Avenue and Reitta Street.
Born in Toronto, Robinson came to Winnipeg to attend the Manitoba College of Pharmacy. The only J. R. Robinson listed in The History of the Faculty of Pharmacy was part of its first graduating class of 1900.
Robinson's store remained at this address until 1921 and would return three years later for a second run.
March 30, 1922, Winnipeg Tribune
In May 1925, it was announced that the government had given the green light for the Royal Bank of Canada to purchase the assets of the Union Bank. The merger was ratified by Union Bank shareholders in June and the only major chartered bank headquartered in Western Canada disappeared.
Perhaps this branch was closed knowing that this merger was on the horizon. The Royal already had branches at Sherbrook and Portage and at William and Sherbrook with a Sherbrook and Sargent branch in the works. This made an Ellice and Sherbrook location unnecessary.
The Union's demise created the opportunity for Robinson to move back to his former location.
Robinson, a long-time resident of 497 Gertrude Street who never married, ran the pharmacy until 1936 and then retired. He died in April 1949 at the age of 70 and is buried in Brookside Cemetery.
Robinson sold the business to Samuel Goodman, a fellow graduate of the U of M's School of Pharmacy from the class of 1929.
After graduating, Goodman went to work for the five-store chain Roberts' Drug Store and became assistant manager of its new Sargent and Sherbrook branch in 1933.
July 31, 1947. Lögberg
The next owner of the business was Reuben "Rudy" Goldman who graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in pharmacy in 1937.
After service in the war, Goldman bought the business in 1945 and over the years it was known as Rudy's Pharmacy, Rudy's Discount Drugs, Gurvy and Rudy's Pharmacy (with business partner Harry Gurvey.) For a time, he owned a second pharmacy on Logan Avenue called Westwood Pharmacy.
Goldman leased out the store portion and its lunch counter in the 1980s but continued to run the pharmacy counter until around 1990. He died in 2008.
March 18, 1966, Winnipeg Free Press
Holunga siblings, Oct. 6, 1988, Winnipeg Free Press, (by Rob Mullin)
Nov. 7, 1913, The Voice
The upstairs of the Mac's Building initially contained three office spaces. The first tenants were: Dr. James R. McRae, physician, in suite 1; Mrs. Margaret Madill, hairdresser, in suite 2; and the Winnipeg Motorcycle Club began meeting there in September 1913 and lasted just a year before moving on.
By 1917, the offices emptied and two residential units appeared. This became four units by 1920.
The 1921 street directory lists the following households: Charles Hill, a mechanic at Central Tire and Vulcanizing on Portage Avenue, in unit 3; Alex Lytle, a clerk at Eatons, in suite 5; William Richardson, a clerk at Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment Clinic in unit 1; and J. R. Wilkinson, no occupation, in unit 7. (Despite the varied suite numbers, there does not appear to have been more than four suites upstairs.)
The upstairs of the Mac's Building continues to house four residential units.
MAC'S THEATRE
The 320-seat Mac's Theatre opened as a moving picture house with little fanfare in late 1913. There were no write-ups or ads for its shows until 1914.
A small, independent neighbourhood cinema could not rely solely on second-run silent films to make money - it also had to be a theatre for hire. Mac's had a small stage area that over the decades featured countless music recitals, lectures, political speeches, and showings of independent documentaries by travelling 'movie men' who would set up for a day or two and move on.
The Fundamentalist Association of United Church Laity called the Mac's home through 1928 offering sermons every Sunday.
The first manager of the Mac's Theatre was Henry Morton who wanted the venue to be family-friendly and “...would not tolerate the showing of any picture which would mar the feelings of the most fastidious.”
Admission was a dime and some weekend night showings included prize giveaways.
One 1915 'advertorial' about its upcoming movies began with the lines: "Everybody has one problem: Where can I get good entertainment for a dime? There is one answer: The Mac's Theatre, corner Sherbrooke and Ellice Avenues. Here at all times one is sure of the best and greatest of pictures."
MacMillan kept the building until at least 1917 and it was bought by the Union Bank / Royal Bank in the early 1920s. It was then owned for decades by the various operators of its cinema, including Western Theatres in the 1930s, Allied Amusements from the 1940s to 1960s, and the Holunga family from the 1970s to the early 2000s.
In more recent decades, it was owned by New Life Ministries from 2004 to 2013. The Adam Beach Film Institute acquired it in 2014. Andrew Davidson, author of the novel The Gargoyle, purchased it in 2019.
The building's exterior has remained remarkably unchanged in its 112 years.
The Mac's is not a large building but it has three distinct sections. This post is divided into the main floor retail space, upstairs suites, and Mac's Theatre.
RETAIL SPACE
Top: October 23, 1908, The Voice
Bottom: J. R. Robinson ca. 1916 (source)
The first retail tenant of the Mac's building was pharmacist Joseph R. Robinson of Gertrude Street who relocated his practice here from Logan Avenue and Reitta Street.
Born in Toronto, Robinson came to Winnipeg to attend the Manitoba College of Pharmacy. The only J. R. Robinson listed in The History of the Faculty of Pharmacy was part of its first graduating class of 1900.
Robinson's store remained at this address until 1921 and would return three years later for a second run.
March 30, 1922, Winnipeg Tribune
A Union Bank of Canada branch opened here in 1921 which forced Robinson to move across the street to 602 Ellice Avenue.
Established
in Quebec City in 1865, the Union Bank made inroads in Western Canada
with the expansion of the railway and it opened a large regional headquarters
in Winnipeg in 1904. By 1911, 145 of its 242 branches were located in
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and the following year the bank's
head office was relocated to Winnipeg.
The Ellice and Sherbrook branch, managed by William R. Learmonth, was the Union's fifteenth in Winnipeg.
The Union Bank likely bought the building as an investment property to install its branch there. Despite the purchase, the branch only lasted until 1924. The reason for its closure wasn't reported on in local papers but it may have had to do with an upcoming merger.
The Ellice and Sherbrook branch, managed by William R. Learmonth, was the Union's fifteenth in Winnipeg.
The Union Bank likely bought the building as an investment property to install its branch there. Despite the purchase, the branch only lasted until 1924. The reason for its closure wasn't reported on in local papers but it may have had to do with an upcoming merger.
May 23, 1925, Winnipeg Tribune
In May 1925, it was announced that the government had given the green light for the Royal Bank of Canada to purchase the assets of the Union Bank. The merger was ratified by Union Bank shareholders in June and the only major chartered bank headquartered in Western Canada disappeared.
Perhaps this branch was closed knowing that this merger was on the horizon. The Royal already had branches at Sherbrook and Portage and at William and Sherbrook with a Sherbrook and Sargent branch in the works. This made an Ellice and Sherbrook location unnecessary.
The Union's demise created the opportunity for Robinson to move back to his former location.
Robinson, a long-time resident of 497 Gertrude Street who never married, ran the pharmacy until 1936 and then retired. He died in April 1949 at the age of 70 and is buried in Brookside Cemetery.
September 15, 1939, Winnipeg Free Press
Robinson sold the business to Samuel Goodman, a fellow graduate of the U of M's School of Pharmacy from the class of 1929.
After graduating, Goodman went to work for the five-store chain Roberts' Drug Store and became assistant manager of its new Sargent and Sherbrook branch in 1933.
July 31, 1947. Lögberg
The next owner of the business was Reuben "Rudy" Goldman who graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in pharmacy in 1937.
After service in the war, Goldman bought the business in 1945 and over the years it was known as Rudy's Pharmacy, Rudy's Discount Drugs, Gurvy and Rudy's Pharmacy (with business partner Harry Gurvey.) For a time, he owned a second pharmacy on Logan Avenue called Westwood Pharmacy.
Goldman leased out the store portion and its lunch counter in the 1980s but continued to run the pharmacy counter until around 1990. He died in 2008.
It was during Rudy's tenure that the building saw one of its saddest moments.
Ten-year-old Kenneth Meisner got into an argument with a boy or boys in the back lane between Sherbrook and Furby streets when one of the older boys brandished a pocket knife and stabbed him three times. A passing motorist found the unconscious boy and carried him into Rudy's where he was laid out on the floor.
An ambulance filling up at a neighbouring gas station was summoned and within a few minutes, the boy was off to the Children's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
It was a rough time for Mrs. Meisner. She and her children moved to Sherbrook Street just a week earlier after losing everything in an apartment fire. Not long after being informed of the death of her son, she was told by police that her other son, Kenneth's half-brother, was arrested for his murder.
Ten-year-old Kenneth Meisner got into an argument with a boy or boys in the back lane between Sherbrook and Furby streets when one of the older boys brandished a pocket knife and stabbed him three times. A passing motorist found the unconscious boy and carried him into Rudy's where he was laid out on the floor.
An ambulance filling up at a neighbouring gas station was summoned and within a few minutes, the boy was off to the Children's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
It was a rough time for Mrs. Meisner. She and her children moved to Sherbrook Street just a week earlier after losing everything in an apartment fire. Not long after being informed of the death of her son, she was told by police that her other son, Kenneth's half-brother, was arrested for his murder.
It
was the Holunga family who leased the store from Goldman in the 1980s and renamed it
Ellice Variety. The family was familiar with the building as their
father, Hector, ran the Mac's Theatre since 1966, (see below for more
about him.)
Aside from the pharmacy counter, Ellice Variety was a gift shop, postal outlet, and lunch counter with about ten seats. The family purchased the store and likely the building in 1986.
Ellice Variety was a neighbourhood institution until its closure in March 2003.
In April 2004, just weeks after Ellice Variety closed, Rev. Harry Lehotsky announced that his New Life Ministries bought the Mac's Building.
It converted the former Ellice Variety retail space into a 40-seat community-friendly café, renovated the upstairs suites for low-income housing, and fixed up the long-vacant theatre space to show films. The Ellice Theatre and Café opened in February 2005.
The ministry continued to operate the building after the death of Lehotsky in 2006, but in August 2012 announced that it would sell it to concentrate its efforts on managing two nearby residential buildings it owned. The Ellice Café's last day was August 24, 2012.
Aside from the pharmacy counter, Ellice Variety was a gift shop, postal outlet, and lunch counter with about ten seats. The family purchased the store and likely the building in 1986.
Ellice Variety was a neighbourhood institution until its closure in March 2003.
In April 2004, just weeks after Ellice Variety closed, Rev. Harry Lehotsky announced that his New Life Ministries bought the Mac's Building.
It converted the former Ellice Variety retail space into a 40-seat community-friendly café, renovated the upstairs suites for low-income housing, and fixed up the long-vacant theatre space to show films. The Ellice Theatre and Café opened in February 2005.
The ministry continued to operate the building after the death of Lehotsky in 2006, but in August 2012 announced that it would sell it to concentrate its efforts on managing two nearby residential buildings it owned. The Ellice Café's last day was August 24, 2012.
In April 2013, it was reported that the Adam Beach Film Institute purchased the building. Actor Adam Beach grew up in the neighbourhood making it a homecoming of sorts.
The main floor retail space became Feast Café Bistro which was opened in December 2015 by Christa Bruneau-Guenther. It specializes in Indigenous-themed food and it is still in operation in 2024.
The main floor retail space became Feast Café Bistro which was opened in December 2015 by Christa Bruneau-Guenther. It specializes in Indigenous-themed food and it is still in operation in 2024.
UPSTAIRS SUITES
Nov. 7, 1913, The VoiceThe upstairs of the Mac's Building initially contained three office spaces. The first tenants were: Dr. James R. McRae, physician, in suite 1; Mrs. Margaret Madill, hairdresser, in suite 2; and the Winnipeg Motorcycle Club began meeting there in September 1913 and lasted just a year before moving on.
By 1917, the offices emptied and two residential units appeared. This became four units by 1920.
The 1921 street directory lists the following households: Charles Hill, a mechanic at Central Tire and Vulcanizing on Portage Avenue, in unit 3; Alex Lytle, a clerk at Eatons, in suite 5; William Richardson, a clerk at Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment Clinic in unit 1; and J. R. Wilkinson, no occupation, in unit 7. (Despite the varied suite numbers, there does not appear to have been more than four suites upstairs.)
The upstairs of the Mac's Building continues to house four residential units.
MAC'S THEATRE
June 19, 1914, Winnipeg Tribune
The 320-seat Mac's Theatre opened as a moving picture house with little fanfare in late 1913. There were no write-ups or ads for its shows until 1914.
A small, independent neighbourhood cinema could not rely solely on second-run silent films to make money - it also had to be a theatre for hire. Mac's had a small stage area that over the decades featured countless music recitals, lectures, political speeches, and showings of independent documentaries by travelling 'movie men' who would set up for a day or two and move on.
The Fundamentalist Association of United Church Laity called the Mac's home through 1928 offering sermons every Sunday.
The first manager of the Mac's Theatre was Henry Morton who wanted the venue to be family-friendly and “...would not tolerate the showing of any picture which would mar the feelings of the most fastidious.”
Admission was a dime and some weekend night showings included prize giveaways.
One 1915 'advertorial' about its upcoming movies began with the lines: "Everybody has one problem: Where can I get good entertainment for a dime? There is one answer: The Mac's Theatre, corner Sherbrooke and Ellice Avenues. Here at all times one is sure of the best and greatest of pictures."
Morton managed the Mac's for only a couple of years but he would go on to create his own cinema chain in the 1930s and 40s that owned movie palaces such as the Strand, Garrick, and Walker.
It
merged with Odeon Theatres of Canada in the early 1940s to create the
Odeon-Morton Theatre Company which he served as president of until he
died in 1951.
In 1980, Paul Morton sold the Morton family share of the company to Canadian Odeon Theatres Ltd. At the time, Odeon-Morton operated six cinemas and two drive-ins in Winnipeg and had more screens in Saskatchewan. After other mergers through the 1980s, the North America-wide Cineplex Odeon Corporation was created.
March 8, 1919, Winnipeg Tribune
Another early manager of the Mac's Theatre was George Farncombe. He was likely originally from the Brandon area and worked in the art industry. The year before he became proprietor of the Mac's Theatre in 1918, he was a travelling salesman for Winnipeg's Canadian Art Galley on Main Street.
The Mac's Theatre had a small role in the Winnipeg General Strike during Farncombe's tenure. A tactic of striking workers was to run volunteer replacement firemen off their feet by calling in false alarms to fire halls. In the first couple of days of the strike, there were 76 false alarms for Mac's Theatre.
Farncombe left Mac's around 1929 to go back into sales for the local office of a U.S.-based publisher called the Grolier Society.
In 1980, Paul Morton sold the Morton family share of the company to Canadian Odeon Theatres Ltd. At the time, Odeon-Morton operated six cinemas and two drive-ins in Winnipeg and had more screens in Saskatchewan. After other mergers through the 1980s, the North America-wide Cineplex Odeon Corporation was created.
March 8, 1919, Winnipeg Tribune
Another early manager of the Mac's Theatre was George Farncombe. He was likely originally from the Brandon area and worked in the art industry. The year before he became proprietor of the Mac's Theatre in 1918, he was a travelling salesman for Winnipeg's Canadian Art Galley on Main Street.
The Mac's Theatre had a small role in the Winnipeg General Strike during Farncombe's tenure. A tactic of striking workers was to run volunteer replacement firemen off their feet by calling in false alarms to fire halls. In the first couple of days of the strike, there were 76 false alarms for Mac's Theatre.
Farncombe left Mac's around 1929 to go back into sales for the local office of a U.S.-based publisher called the Grolier Society.
November 12, 1931, Lögberg
The early 1930s was a tough period for neighbourhood cinema owners as their costs soared and revenues dropped.
The advent of "talking pictures" in the late 1920s put pressure on owners to make costly renovations to their spaces or find themselves behind the times showing silent films that few people wanted to see. The Depression meant that even most working-class families did not have the money to spare to see films on a regular basis causing their customer base to shrink.
The first Winnipeg cinema to be wired for sound was The Metropolitan in late 1928 and over the next couple of years most other cinemas followed suit. Mac's was a bit behind the times as it closed in the summer of 1931 for extensive renovations and reopened in October as a "talking picture house".
Saturday afternoons were reserved for Westerns and it showed double bills throughout the week.
The advent of "talking pictures" in the late 1920s put pressure on owners to make costly renovations to their spaces or find themselves behind the times showing silent films that few people wanted to see. The Depression meant that even most working-class families did not have the money to spare to see films on a regular basis causing their customer base to shrink.
The first Winnipeg cinema to be wired for sound was The Metropolitan in late 1928 and over the next couple of years most other cinemas followed suit. Mac's was a bit behind the times as it closed in the summer of 1931 for extensive renovations and reopened in October as a "talking picture house".
Saturday afternoons were reserved for Westerns and it showed double bills throughout the week.
December 23, 1931 Heimskringla
The new owners of Mac's who likely foot the bill for adding the sound system were James Gudmundur Christie and his wife Jonina. In the December 23, 1931 edition of Winnipeg's Icelandic-language newspaper Heimskringla, he wrote a letter to the editor encouraging people to come down to the newly renovated venue.
The following translation of his letter is with the aid of Google Translate:
"The only cinema in the city run by an Icelander. Let's blame the very difficult times, I have decided to set entrance to a show at Mac's at only 15 cents for adults and 5 cents for children who appear at 7 pm. At that time I guarantee to show as good a pictures as other houses in the city. The house is cozy, warm and newly renovated. Talking machine is of its best type. Come down to Mac's Theatre and save money. Ellice is wide, nice (for parking cars).
Merry Christmas,
J. G. Christie."
James
and Jonina Christie came to Canada from their native Iceland in 1899
and first settled in Gimli where they were the first owners of the
original Lakeview Hotel (which later became part of the original Bethel Home). They adopted a son named William in 1918 and after a stint in Selkirk moved to Winnipeg in 1930.
In some street directories, Jonina is listed as the manager of the Mac's Theatre and James' name does not appear. This suggests that they may still have had business interests in Gimli or Selkirk and he stayed there for periods to manage them. Their Winnipeg home for a time was suite 2 above the Theatre.
The Christies hired staff to help with the theatre through the 1940s. The 1944 street directory lists Mrs. Mary Dunlop as a door girl, W. H. Margot as the projectionist, and Miss Margaret Reeves as the usherette.
February 23, 1948, Winnipeg Tribune
In some street directories, Jonina is listed as the manager of the Mac's Theatre and James' name does not appear. This suggests that they may still have had business interests in Gimli or Selkirk and he stayed there for periods to manage them. Their Winnipeg home for a time was suite 2 above the Theatre.
The Christies hired staff to help with the theatre through the 1940s. The 1944 street directory lists Mrs. Mary Dunlop as a door girl, W. H. Margot as the projectionist, and Miss Margaret Reeves as the usherette.
February 23, 1948, Winnipeg Tribune
James Christie made headlines in February 1938 when he thwarted an armed holdup at the Mac's Theatre.
Described by the Tribune as a "spunky 65-year-old", Christie was working in the box office inside the theatre lobby when a young man in a dark coat pulled out a pistol and said, "Put 'em up and let's have it". Instead of panicking or handing over the money, Christie grabbed the man's coat and yelled out "There's a man with a gun". This brought patrons out of the theatre hall into the lobby when the man broke free and ran down the street with some patrons giving chase. He was never caught.
Christie told the Tribune that he was not scared as he had been in scrapes before when he owned a hotel. He felt the odds were that the gun had no bullets in it and that nobody desperate to hold up a box office was willing to kill for such a small amount. (He obviously forgot about the death of Constable Charles Gillis in 1936 after a botched gas station robbery of thirty cents.)
In the early 1940s, the Christies moved from an apartment on Maryland Street back to suite 2 of the Mac's Block. James died there in June 1943 at aged 70 and is buried in Gimli cemetery. Jonina died in February 1963 at age 85 at a room she rented in a home on Cambridge Street.
Described by the Tribune as a "spunky 65-year-old", Christie was working in the box office inside the theatre lobby when a young man in a dark coat pulled out a pistol and said, "Put 'em up and let's have it". Instead of panicking or handing over the money, Christie grabbed the man's coat and yelled out "There's a man with a gun". This brought patrons out of the theatre hall into the lobby when the man broke free and ran down the street with some patrons giving chase. He was never caught.
Christie told the Tribune that he was not scared as he had been in scrapes before when he owned a hotel. He felt the odds were that the gun had no bullets in it and that nobody desperate to hold up a box office was willing to kill for such a small amount. (He obviously forgot about the death of Constable Charles Gillis in 1936 after a botched gas station robbery of thirty cents.)
In the early 1940s, the Christies moved from an apartment on Maryland Street back to suite 2 of the Mac's Block. James died there in June 1943 at aged 70 and is buried in Gimli cemetery. Jonina died in February 1963 at age 85 at a room she rented in a home on Cambridge Street.
The Mac's had two short-term managers until around 1951 and then there are no street directory listings for a few years. As the theatre rarely advertised during this time it is unclear if it was operating as a cinema during this period..
A Winnipeg Free Press article in 1956 about the plight of independent cinemas notes that Mac's was a "Miles-run house", referring to Jack Miles' Allied Entertainment Ltd. and its chain of neighbourhood theatres.
Allied Amusements was created by Miles in 1912 to run a single theatre, The Palace on Selkirk Avenue. By the end of the 1920s, it had grown into a chain of four with the addition of custom-built venues The Roxy (on Henderson), The Rose (on Sargent), and The Plaza (on Marion at Tache). The Uptown Theatre, Miles' largest and most opulent venue, opened in 1931. Others were added over the years as independents sold up or small chains went under.
Some independent owners complained that after Miles' large theatres were done with a first-run movie, it would be sent to Mac's before it was made available to them as a second-run film. They felt that this holdup was unfair and a sign of how much influence Miles had when it came to local film distribution.
Many neighbourhood cinemas were on the ropes by the late 1950s as television had established itself as the dominant media for mass entertainment. Some cinema chains folded or merged and many of their buildings were demolished or converted to other uses. Even Allied fell on hard times. Its large Uptown and Roxy became bowling alleys in 1960 and The Palace was gutted to become a retail store in 1964.
The remnants of Allied's community cinema empire, including the smaller Deluxe, Windsor, College, Starland, and Mac's, continued to advertise together until late 1965.
Initially, Holunga kept up the tradition of showing second-run mainstream movies and then began to intermix foreign-language films from countries such as Germany, Poland and Ukraine.
The success of the foreign language films brought attention and new investors.
April 4, 1975, Winnipeg Tribune
Three Winnipeg businessmen: Basil Lagopolous, (who ran a boutique store in Osborne Village); David Rich; and Will Hechter (a law student), reached a lease agreement with Holunga and invested $1,200 to make minor renovations to the space.
The venue was rechristened "Cinema 3". The name, Hechter would later explain, was in response to the new Garrick Cinema and Northstar Inn opening a "Cinema 1" and "Cinema 2" under the same roof. The partners thought that Cinema 3 sounded "kind of ridiculous".
The venue specialized in "interesting foreign and English-language movies which are unable to gain bookings at the more commercially-minded Winnipeg Cinemas" and opened on September 24, 1969, with La guerre est finie by French director Alain Resnais.
In
a March 1970 Free Press article the owners expressed surprise at how
successful the venue was having grossed $20,000 in the first five
months despite only two showings a day, four days a week. This was
thanks in part to the French film The Two of Us that played played for almost nine weeks.
The Cinema 3 partners had to concentrate on their main businesses in the early 1970s and Chris Jones was brought in to manage the venue. In 1974, Hechter returned to look after the bookings and management and brought in Holunga, who still had the lease on the building, to look after the front of house and manage the small staff.
Holunga was both managing the venue and booking the films by 1978.
The Cinema 3 partners had to concentrate on their main businesses in the early 1970s and Chris Jones was brought in to manage the venue. In 1974, Hechter returned to look after the bookings and management and brought in Holunga, who still had the lease on the building, to look after the front of house and manage the small staff.
Holunga was both managing the venue and booking the films by 1978.
The Holunga children, Bonnie, Connie and Wayne, ran Ellice Variety, formerly Rudy' Pharmacy, took over Cinema 3 from their father in 1980 and continued the tradition of showing foreign language films. Connie and Bonnie worked the front of house and Wayne did the books and at times was the projectionist. They likely purchased the entire building from Goldman in 1986.
According to a 2003 Free Press article, Cinema 3 closed around 2000 and Ellice Variety closed in March 2003.
When New Life Ministries bought the Mac's Building in April 2004, they renovated the 220-seat theatre which reopened as the Ellice Theatre in February 2005.
It was mainly a venue for hire, though for a time did show classic Hollywood films from the 1940s on an "admission by donation" basis.
The Ellice Theatre closed in August 2012.
In April 2013, the CBC reported that actor Adam Beach, who grew up in the neighbourhood, purchased the building and the theatre would house the Adam Beach Film Institute. The organization appears to have moved to Balmoral Street after a couple of years.
ETCETERA
Andrew Davidson, author of the novel The Gargoyle, purchased the building in 2019.
Extensive renovations soon began on the theatre space but were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 146-seat Gargoyle Theatre hosted its first performance on February 9, 2022.
The Gargoyle Theatre is a workshop theatre dedicated to presenting new plays and musicals by local artists.
Extensive renovations soon began on the theatre space but were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 146-seat Gargoyle Theatre hosted its first performance on February 9, 2022.
The Gargoyle Theatre is a workshop theatre dedicated to presenting new plays and musicals by local artists.
ETCETERA
My Flickr Album of the Mac's Building
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