Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre
The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres are a pair of stacked theatres in Toronto. They are the last surviving Edwardian stacked theatres in the world. The pair was originally built as the centrepiece of Marcus Loew's theatre chain in 1913. In 1928, the decline of Vaudeville forced the Winter Garden to close, and it remained shuttered for several decades. Left inside was a large collection of Vaudeville props and scenery, now the world's largest surviving collection. The lower theatre was eventually transformed into a cinema. Over time the building gradually deteriorated as did the theatre. In 1969, Loews sold the Elgin to Famous Players. In 1981 the Ontario Heritage Foundation bought the structure from Famous Players and set about restoring the two theatres. The Elgin Theatre also serves as one of the hosts to the annual Toronto International Film Festival