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Empress Theatre

5560, rue Sherbrooke Ouest

Deconstruction of the 1927 cinema with its Egyptian Revival façade kept, and a temporary outdoor cultural space on the site.

Project progress

Latest update

Autumn 2026

Deconstruction contract

Next steps

2
  1. 1

    Early 2027

    Work expected to begin

  2. 2

    Autumn 2027

    First programming

Previous steps7 milestones since 1927

  1. Public information session

  2. February 24, 2026

    Deconstruction announced, façade kept

    The site is to become an outdoor cultural and community space, presented as an interim use.

    News release

  3. 2020

    Building judged unsound

    A demolition is announced, then shelved. In 2024 the city considers selling instead.

  4. August 15, 2011

    The borough takes it over

  5. 2009 – 2018

    Three revival projects fail

    An $11.8M restoration plan loses its provincial funding in 2010; the Cinema NDG proposal fails to raise money between 2012 and 2015; the MK2 partnership announced in 2017 is dissolved the following year.

  6. 1999

    The City buys the building

  7. 1927

    The theatre opens

    Designed by Joseph-Alcide Chaussé, interiors by Emmanuel Briffa. The only Egyptian Revival theatre in Canada.

The Egyptian Revival façade on Sherbrooke West, boarded up. This is the part the borough has committed to keeping.

The Egyptian Revival façade on Sherbrooke West, boarded up. This is the part the borough has committed to keeping. · Alanah.Montreal, CC BY 2.0

About the project

The Empress Theatre opened in 1927 at 5560 Sherbrooke Street West. It was designed by architect Joseph-Alcide Chaussé with interiors by Emmanuel Briffa, and it is the only Egyptian Revival theatre ever built in Canada. The figures and winged disc on the façade come from the craze that followed the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb.

It ran for 65 years, latterly as Cinema V, until a fire closed it in 1992. The City of Montreal took ownership in 1999 and the borough took it over in 2011. Three separate revival projects have come and gone since, and the building has decayed to the point of being judged structurally unsound.

On 24 February 2026 the borough announced what comes next: deconstruct the building while keeping the façade, and turn the site into an outdoor cultural and community space, presented as an interim use. Open-air screenings, participatory arts activities and performances could run there from autumn 2027.

Images

  • The queue outside the Empress, photographed by Conrad Poirier. From the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec collection.

    The queue outside the Empress, photographed by Conrad Poirier. From the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec collection.

    Conrad Poirier, BAnQ (domaine public)

  • In July 1982, then running as Cinema V. The marquee covered the bas-reliefs at the time.

    In July 1982, then running as Cinema V. The marquee covered the bas-reliefs at the time.

    Flickr, CC BY 2.0

  • One of the entrances in 2015: sealed doors, plants in the gaps. This condition is what the decision to deconstruct rests on.

    One of the entrances in 2015: sealed doors, plants in the gaps. This condition is what the decision to deconstruct rests on.

    Anna Frodesiak, CC0

Sources