Calgary's film community concerned over sale of Globe Cinema

Calgary's film community is disappointed over the potential loss of another downtown movie theatre with the Globe Cinema up for sale. 

A commercial listing on Avison Young's website says the venue at 617 Eighth Ave. S.W. can be purchased for $2,400,000.

The neighbouring building to the west, former home to Rileys Reproductions and Printing, is also for sale. The Globe is operated by Rileys Entertainment.

The Globe Cinema opened in 1995, replacing the former Towne Cinema, which opened in the early 1970s, according to the Glenbow Archives.

The independent theatre calls itself a "classic movie house" and is host to independent film festivals.

Katherine Penhale, acting executive director of the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF), says the sale of the Globe poses an "existential risk to the screening capacity in the core."

"The media arts have no home," said Penhale. "We feel like this is a pretty massive deficit and it only becomes increasingly concerning when we consider how important film is becoming to Alberta both economically and culturally," she said. 

"The Globe is all that's left." 

The film festival has been held annually at the Globe Cinema and the Cineplex Odeon Cinemas at Eau Claire Market, but the market is set to be demolished this summer to make way for the Green Line LRT.

The Globe Cinema has two auditoriums that seat 378 people, according to its website. 

Penhale added that while the Plaza Theatre in Kensington still remains, its capacity is much smaller than the Eau Claire Cineplex and the Globe. According to the Plaza Theatre's website, its single auditorium seats 150 people.

The Calgary Underground Film Festival is exclusively held at the Globe, and had its most recent run at the theatre in April. One of CUFF's lead programmers, Cameron Macgowan, says he's known the venue has been up for lease in the past.

"So it's always kind of been looming that it would start to be taken more seriously," Macgowan said.

Macgowan said the Globe's unique characteristics are unmatched in Calgary's theatre landscape, and to lose such a venue would be a loss for the independent film scene.