Tammy VanSickle celebrated her last days as owner of the Roxy Theatre by showing Mama Mia Here We Go Again, one of her favourites.
New owner Greg Rose, said he wants to assure the community that the Roxy will remain a movie theatre.
“At the end of the day, it’s not my movie theatre it’s our movie theatre,” Rose said. “It belongs to the community.”
Rose took over operations on Nov. 16 and showed one of his favourite movies, The Big Lebowski.
He has lived in Revelstoke for four years, working various jobs. His friend from Alberta, Dan Gneze, purchased the building and asked Rose to be the face of the company.
The historic building was constructed in 1905 as Lawrence Hardware. It was taken over by Columbia Hardware in 1918. The building was converted to a theatre in 1938 and operated as Avolie Theatre until 1959, when it was renamed The Roxy Theatre.
READ MORE: Glimpses of the Past
It was not the first movie theatre in town. According to a news article from The Revelstoke Review on Jan. 18, 1984, Robert Tapping opened Tapping Theatre on Connaught Ave. in 1896 .Two years later he built a “more commodious” building at the Mountain View school site, which now hosts Old School Eatery and Jones Distilling.
The Rex Theatre, run by Wendy Smythe, opened after the Tapping Theatre closed. Later the Empress Theatre, owned by R. B. Faulkner, was in operation. The name was changed to The Province. The building hosting The Province burned down in 1936.
The Coopers bought property on Mackenzie Ave. to build the Avoilie and it was opened for business on Dec. 22, 1938.
H.J. Stevenson of Prince George bought the theatre in 1952 and renamed it the Roxy Theatre
Tammy and Jaret VanSickle purchased the Roxy in 2015 from Carl Rankin, who bought it in 1996.
READ MORE: New owners have big dreams for Roxy Theatre
Rose said he is happy to be in a legacy building.
“There is something really special about this theatre,” he said.
As of Nov. 23, the Roxy Theatre is still open, complying with COVID-19 requirements. Please check their Facebook page for the most up to date information.
