Entertainment in the Downtown

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Entertainment has always been a part of downtown life in St. Catharines. The venues that hosted entertainment became part of the social fabric of city life for each generation.

Live performing arts could be enjoyed at the Grand Opera House, the Welland House, and many other smaller concert venues throughout the community such as the lawn at City Hall and Montebello Park. Music, live theatre, vaudeville, musicals, and even circus acts provided plenty of opportunity for the local community to be entertained.

Many movie theatres operated downtown between the 1910s and 1980s, including the Park theatre, the Centre Theatre, the Capitol Theatre, the Palace Theatre, the Towne Cinemas and the King George Theatre.

Five theatres were located in a two-block radius along St. Paul Street and James Street and earned its reputation as “Peanut Alley”. The story goes that patrons would buy roasted peanuts at local grocers and then bring them to the theatre to enjoy while watching a film. Naturally, this meant that peanut shells often littered the street!

The heart of entertainment still beats in the downtown core today with multiple venues hosting music, theatre, sports and film. Recent additions include The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and the Meridian Centre.