Clear Lake cinema gets international spotlight

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/03/2021 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Time Out Magazine recently published their ranking of “The 50 most beautiful cinemas in the world,” with the number 21 spot going to the Park Theatre situated in Wasagaming.

Editor Phil de Semlyen justified his selection by highlighting the venue’s status as “the biggest log cabin theatre in North America,” revealing that this unique architecture is the result of eight Scandinavians using peeled logs and iron bracings to erect the structure in 1937.

“They did a solid job, because the 500-seat cinema still packs them nearly 85 years later,” writes de Semlyen. “The original exposed beams, rafters and seating remain, though the 12K digital projector and 7.1 Surround Sound give it all a 21st century sheen.”

At number 21, The Park Theatre outranks other well-known cinemas from across the globe, including Los Angeles’ Egyptian Theatre, London’s Genesis Cinema and the Kino International in Germany.

In fact, the Wasagaming theatre is the only Canadian venue to make it onto Time Out’s recent list.

The Park Theatre’s inclusion in this article came as a complete surprise to owner Bev Gowler, who’s run this cinema with her husband Jim since 1976.

Talking to the Sun on Friday, Gowler hopes that this article highlights what an architectural marvel the cinema really is, especially since a lot of people get fooled by the building’s humble exterior.

“You don’t realize how large it is inside,” she said, referencing its 3,120 square foot auditorium. “It’s a beautiful building and it gives you a sense that you’re in another world when you’re sitting there.”

Unfortunately, the Park Theatre’s auditorium was empty this past summer, since Gowler decided to keep the cinema closed for the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though she had the option of reopening.

“It was tragic, really, but the most important thing was to keep our patrons safe,” she said.

After all, Gowler maintains that her favourite part of running the Park Theatre is the customers who make the trek to Wasagaming every year and drop by for a movie in between their camping and fishing expeditions.

“They become kind of our vacation family,” she said. “Quite often I’ll get phone calls from people who live in Toronto who are coming up and they want to know what the schedule will be. So I think people look forward to it as part of their holiday, to come to the show.”

Moving forward, Gowler hopes that she can reopen the Park Theatre this summer, although that will entirely depend on the public health orders that are in place around that time.

But if they get the green light from the province, Gowler is more than happy to welcome the public back to their venue, especially now that the cinema has received this big boost in publicity from Time Out Magazine.

“It’s been an honour to have the place,” she said. “We’ve enjoyed many years there and we love our customers.”

According to the province’s official website, the Park Theatre was officially designated as a Manitoba provincial heritage site back in 1992.

In 2012, the Gowlers decided to follow industry trends by swapping out the venue’s 35 mm vintage projectors for a digital unit and modern surround sound system, giving them the capacity to screen the latest Hollywood blockbusters to this day.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

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