Charlevoix film fans who wanted to watch films with other fans in the darkness of a theater will soon lose the region’s only 7th art anchor. The La Malbaie cinema, which existed alongside a bowling alley and a video game store, was sold. The cinema hall will soon be dismantled to make way for an entertainment center.
The co-owners had owned the property for 38 years and felt the time had come to consider retirement. They had been looking for a buyer for five years, but only recently did Gilles Dallaire and Claude Lavoie receive an offer they could accept.
This fall we had a buyer who wanted to buy the building and decided he wanted to do something other than the movie theater, so the movie theater closed. The bowling alley, however, remains open, explains Claude Lavoie.
Open in full screen mode
Gilles Dallaire (left) and Claude Lavoie (right) are co-owners of Cinéquilles La Malbaie. When the building was sold, both of them retired.
Photo: Cinema La Malbaie Facebook page
The closure of the region’s only cinema is therefore not the result of a decline in visitors. Claude Lavoie even emphasizes the interest of moviegoers in seeing films in the cinema. The rest of us have pretty much returned to our previous levels since last year [c’est-à-dire le nombre d’entrées comptabilisées avant la pandémie, NDLR].
Survey on cinema screenings
The number of moviegoers has been declining since 2003.
Since 1975, the number of cinema halls and seats has decreased, especially from 1975 to 1990. However, the total number of halls and the number of screens per cinema have decreased [sic] recorded growth especially between 1995 and 2000 with the opening of multiplexes and megaplexes, cinemas with 10, 15 and sometimes 20 screens.
When signs of recovery are evident and have relative importance, as in 2021, supply and attendance in cinemas remain below pre-COVID-19 levels.
Source: Quebec Statistics Institute
MM. Lavoie and Dallaire would have liked the new owner to continue running the cinema. Also the signatories of a petition. A few hundred of them have registered their names, not only to demand the opening of the space, but above all to express their appreciation for this place, which has been open since 1947. Claude Lavoie is touched by this appreciation, but would not have changed the end result. Yes, I saw her [la pétition], he said. But the whole deal was done, the financing was done, so it was sold. It’s an individual buying, so they have the right to do whatever they want with their building.
Years of history
The place was founded by a doctor over 75 years ago.
The doctor [Paul-Émile] Paquin had decided to open a cinema in La Malbaie based on a concept [selon lequel] There was a cinema on the upper floor and the bowling alley in the basement, explains Claude Lavoie. There were two sons-in-law who ran it for a while until only one kept it and eventually the rest of us bought it from his son-in-law.
Open in full screen mode
The bowling alley is in the same building as the cinema, on the first floor. The new owner will keep it open.
Photo: Cinema La Malbaie Facebook page
Despite the effort of the last few weeks to prepare for the new owner to take over the building, Claude Lavoie is still driven by his passion for cinema, while activities continue at the bowling alley, which is always busy.
There are many beautiful memories. “We often did outing events in Quebec,” he remembers. When we organized events with the companies, people always came. Being in small regions far from the big centers is excellent for people, receiving stars and receiving film crews.
When the projectors go out for the last time at Cinéma La Malbaie, you will have to travel hundreds of kilometers to see films in the cinema. The nearest cinemas are in Quebec, Baie-Comeau and Saguenay. Certain activities such as Ciné dans l’pré in Baie-Saint-Paul allow cinema-goers to attend outdoor screenings in summer.
Claude Lavoie remains confident that film fans in the region will be able to meet close to home. I hope that there are other people who are interested in finding a new formula, a new way, a new building, I don’t know. We always hope that there are people who will stand up and decide to restart, because I think we have a beautiful region that can afford to have a cinema. […] I am convinced that things will not get worse, but better. People have to get out.
The last showing date was not provided by the owner. However, there are no further programs available on the Cinéma La Malbaie website beyond November 2nd.