VANCOUVER — Single-screen movie theatres have all but disappeared from the Lower Mainland, but the Rio Theatre has bucked the odds by offering a mixed menu of movies, live music and special events.
But not for much longer. The Rio has received approval from Vancouver council for a liquor-primary licence as a live performing-arts venue. This will allow it to sell alcohol at live events, such as concerts.
The catch is, the East Vancouver cinema is going to have to stop showing movies, because a provincial liquor regulation that may date to the 1920s states that movie theatres cannot sell liquor.
It is not the only business facing this problem.
The late movie producer Bill Vince spent $2 million renovating a dilapidated theatre at 319 Main into a boutique cinema with plush seating and a lounge for private movie screenings and events.
District 319 has struggled after Vince died from cancer, so it recently got city approval to amend its licence so it could stage live shows.
According to a spokesperson for the provincial Liquor Control and Licensing Branch, this means District 319 can no longer show films – even though it’s a state-of-the-art 150-seat movie theatre with 35-mm and digital projection, and Dolby THX surround sound.
Corinne Lea of the Rio Theatre spent $100,000 on a 3-D projector herself, which she will no longer be able to use when the 1938 theatre gets a liquor licence.
“It’s basically an antiquated law,” she says. “Most people don’t even know it exists.”
The city’s cultural affairs department agrees.
“We do not understand or support the BC Liquor Licensing Branch determining that a so-called ‘live performance venue’ would preclude showing feature films/motion pictures,” it wrote in a report to council about the Rio. “We do not support any such restriction.”
Vancouver councillor Heather Deal calls the no-liquor-with-movies restriction “arcane.”
“It makes absolutely no sense,” said Deal.”It’s not logical at all. It’s part of a shopping list that we’re developing of things that we would like the provincial government to change.
“For instance, the provincial government says that someone who’s onstage performing cannot have a beer onstage with them,” she says with a laugh.
“Rock bands the world over have had a beer onstage with them, except in Vancouver. But those are provincial regulations.”
A spokesperson for the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch said in an email, “The LCLB is aware there are calls to make changes in British Columbia with respect to movie theatres serving liquor, and consideration is being given as to whether public-safety issues can be addressed in a manner that would enable a change to the regulations.”
She noted that movie theatres attract youth, which poses challenges “to the responsibility we have of ensuring minors do not have access to liquor.”
The issue isn’t about to go away. One of the hot new trends in cinema is “premium” theatres with lounges that sell liquor.
Cineplex has already opened three “VIP” theatres in Ontario, and has announced plans to build several more in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Coquitlam, Abbotsford and Vancouver.
Five existing auditoriums are being renovated into VIP theatres at the SilverCity Coquitlam multiplex, and are scheduled to open in December. The Vancouver and Abbotsford theatres will be in new 11-screen multiplexes that will include three VIP theatres.
Because of B.C.’s liquor regulations, the lounges won’t be selling liquor, but the Liquor Board spokesperson said it has had inquiries from Cineplex “on changing the regulation.”
Besides the lounge, the VIP theatre offers moviegoers a chance to buy a reserved seat (for an additional $6), enjoy service in their seats, and watch movies in larger, more comfortable leather seats.
“They’re extremely popular here in Ontario,” said Kyle Moffatt of Cineplex in Toronto.
The Rio would like to show movies without selling liquor, but Lea said the Liquor Board insists that is still in violation of the liquor-primary licence.
“They said in order for us to get our liquor licence, we had to agree that we would not be a part-time movie theatre any more,” she said.
Ironically, the Rio has been serving liquor at live events for the past couple of years, using temporary licences. And it has continued to operate as a movie theatre.
“We have everything from concerts to independent films to political debates and poetry slams,” said Lea.
“We show cult movies at midnight every Friday, everything from The Big Lebowski to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. We’re one of the only theatres that shows The Room regularly, which has a huge cult following.”
The eclectic mix will continue until they receive provincial approval for their licence, which could be anywhere from one month to several. David Duprey of the Rickshaw Theatre received approval from Vancouver council for a liquor-primary licence on June 30, but still hasn’t received final approval from the province, four months later.
The regulation banning liquor at movie theatres dates to prohibition, which lasted in B.C. from 1917 to 1921, when the public voted to repeal it. But the provincial government kept tight restrictions on liquor. You couldn’t drink in a public place until beer parlours were allowed to open in 1925, and hard liquor could only be consumed in private clubs until lounges were allowed in 1953.
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