ELORA – When the owner of Elora’s Gorge Cinema was asked by developers to surrender his lease to make way for their plans, Payton Curtis decided to stay put to buy time to figure out a plan to save the decades-old venue.
The move appears to have paid off as a local woman’s company has purchased the building and wants him to stay as they revitalize the historic building.
“I’m just glad I dug my heels in because it was worth it in the end,” Curtis said in an interview.
Curtis, who has been running the Gorge Cinema for the past five years, said when the ownership of the building changed hands a few years back they intended to put in a large hotel and the cinema was no longer welcome when the lease was up.
With pandemic restrictions hitting movie theatres particularly hard, Curtis said operating the cinema got dicey.
“It would have been horrifying for me to be the guy that blew it,” Curtis said, adding he’s thankful for the support he got from locals so he could make rent on the business.
“There were some dark days, so when this deal went through it was such a surprise.”
The biggest surprise came when he learned the owner of the company who purchased the property is an old friend of Curtis’ who grew up in Elora with him.
Kristy Hillis’ company Kat Florence, which focuses on high-end, one-of-a-kind auction jewellery, is the building’s new owner.
“I’ve been back in the area for about a year and when I got back it was amazing to see the development and how much Elora has flourished,” Hillis said.
“The only thing I was so shocked at is at the very centre of the town, where this little cinema sat, I saw the building was just literally sitting there kind of decomposing.”
So Hillis’ goal is to restore the building, which the cinema is just one part of.
“We’ll create this beautiful, kind of a small boutique hotel and then make the cinema a huge feature of that hotel,” Hillis said.
This is not going to be a quick task but Hillis said she feels this is important work as the town grows.
“I see the other side of the river developing with the mill, which is incredible and beautiful, and so I think it’s really important to preserve the historical side of Elora as it grows,” Hillis said.
The Gorge Cinema is something both Curtis and Hillis treasure as a feature growing up in Elora and it compels both of them to do what they can to keep it running into the future.
“Film has always played a role in inspiration and motivation for my designs and I felt so lucky that I grew up in such a small town environment but still had access to artistic or international films that were brought in,” Hillis said.
“I definitely feel that directly impacted me as I was growing up so I couldn’t even imagine losing it.”
Curtis said he’s grateful the cinema is staying and he’s happy to reconnect with an old friend who shares his passion for it.
“It’s just very serendipitous meeting again after so many years and over something we both love so much,” Curtis said.
