Ottawa’s ByTowne Cinema, a cultural landmark in the heart of the nation’s capital, is closing its doors permanently on Dec. 31.

“The cinema has been losing money every day since the pandemic hit. Even when we’ve been allowed to be open, audiences are dramatically smaller,” said a statement shared on social media.

“The ByTowne has a fantastic customer base, but many ByTowners just aren’t coming these days. And I don’t blame them: our staff have done an amazing job with COVID protocols that keep customers as safe as possible, but everyone’s risk assessment is personal, and specific to their circumstances. Many just don’t want to make a non-essential trip to a cinema,” said the post from owner Bruce White.

The theatre, located on Rideau Street, has been owned by White since 1988.

Theatres across the world have been struggling to survive in 2020 as the pandemic has shuttered cinemas, wreaked havoc with the 2020 film schedule and accelerated the direct-to-consumer shift. Across Canada, around 70% of cinemas are currently closed due to lockdown restrictions, according to estimates from MTAC.

The problem has intensified in recent months as U.S. studios have continued to delay tentpole releases in the hope of preserving box-office opportunities further down the road. In addition, the rulebook governing the traditional theatrical window has been torn to shreds in 2020, with studios such as Universal skipping theatres and sending Trolls World Tour straight to PVOD, and, most recently, Warner Bros. rocking the exhibition sector by revealing it would release its entire 2021 film slate concurrently in theatres and on HBO Max in the U.S.

The lack of new movies was cited as a reason why business isn’t sustainable for ByTowne Cinema. “Normal film distribution, normal cinema operations, and normal moviegoing are all waiting for a widely available coronavirus vaccine. And that, realistically, is many months away. Perhaps more than a year.”

Another reason for the closure is that owner White is looking for a buyer.

“In August of 2019, I started seriously working on a succession plan. Who could I find to buy the business and carry on the ByTowne tradition? I’m at retirement age, and the cinema could use fresh ideas. I was making some progress at that. Then the pandemic hit.” White added that he’s hopeful the cinema could find a buyer once the “eye of the pandemic storm” has passed.

The announcement has been greeted with an outpouring of tributes online. On Twitter alone, the post has been retweeted more than 550 times since Friday afternoon.

And of course, the ByTowne Cinema is not alone in its struggle for survival. Across the country, independent theatres are collectively staring down the barrel of permanent closures as they manage the challenges of mandated closures, not being able to fill auditoriums to capacity and a film schedule bereft of the films that draw cinemagoers to theatres.

Among them is Toronto’s Revue Cinema, which recently unveiled a plan to begin selling naming rights to its seats as part of a campaign to help stay afloat while lockdown restrictions keep cinemas closed.

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