The curtain may soon rise again on Notre-Dame-de-Grâce’s Empress Theatre.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Empress Theatre Foundation announced that it has signed a letter of intent with French cinema chain MK2.
The hope is to bring the abandoned theatre on Sherbrooke Street back to life.
The Empress originally opened in 1927 with a variety of onstage shows and movies. A fire in 1992 caused damage to the theatre and resulted in its permanent closure.
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The foundation says the Montreal landmark will be transformed into a modern cinematic complex.
READ MORE: Councillors vote to help re-open old Empress Theatre
“The plans that we have now include 880 seats in five different cinemas in this building,” said Empress Theatre Foundation president Kim Fuller.
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“It would also include a restaurant, bar and coffee shop. And if we can get it with rooftop access — we’re still looking into the feasibility of that — there may also be some space there that we can use for other activities.”
The group intends on submitting a business plan to the city of Montreal by the end of the month, and then ask the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce to donate the building to the foundation.
The foundation says if the project gets the go-ahead, construction could begin in the new year, with hopes of a grand opening in 2019.
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