The Princess Theatre is a two-screen art-house cinema at 10337 Whyte Avenue in Edmonton's historic Old Strathcona neighbourhood. The building was designed by prominent Edmonton architects Wilson and Herrald, a firm responsible for the design of many other Edmonton heritage sites. It became Edmonton's oldest surviving theatre after the demolition of the Gem Theatre in 2006. The building currently houses the main 400-seat theatre as well as the 100-seat Princess II, in the basement. It was originally known as the McKernan Block, after John W. McKernan, the building's original financier, owner, and manager. The building and the theatre within has changed ownership several times, and its fortunes have largely depended on the state of the Canadian theatre industry at the time. It spent a dozen years as a retail space from 1958 to 1970, and six years from 1970 to 1976 mainly exhibiting mainstream pornographic films. The Princess was operated successfully as a repertory theatre from 1978 to late 1996, after which it became a first run theatre. Until 2016, the Princess was operated as a first run theatre by Edmonton's native Magic Lantern Theatres. Beginning in January 2016, the cinema was operated by Plaza Entertainment. The Princess Theatre closed in October 2020 in response as a result of the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on theatre attendance. The building was listed for sale in 2022.
Silent era
Early years under J.W. McKernan
The Princess Block, was designed by Edmonton architects Wilson and Herrald, who also designed Whyte Avenue's Douglas Block, the Strathcona Fire Hall, the Strathcona Public Library, and the University of Alberta's Rutherford House. From the beginning, the building was designed to combine commercial and residential space, and featured a full basement, small multi-use second floor apartments, and a full third floor in addition to the theatre space. The building was originally known as the McKernan Block, after John W. McKernan, the Princess's owner and manager until his death in 1919. The McKernans were a family of property developers in boomtown Strathcona; John's father developed and ran the historically important Dominion Hotel, also on Whyte Avenue. For his part, J.W. McKernan is considered an important trailblazer in Edmonton entertainment. He was already a recognized theatre operator having previously run a succession of other south side theatres before the Princess: the Gem, the Alhambra, and the South Side Bijou / Bijou Strathcona. The Princess Theatre opened as a single-screen cinema on March 8, 1915, to rave reviews. It had cost McKernan CA$75,000 and had taken 10 months to build, longer than expected. The theatre opened with 660 seats and the largest live performance stage in a cinema west of Winnipeg. Its competitors, the Ross Hall theatre and the Strand Theatre also on Whyte Avenue, soon succumbed to the economic recession that set in during WWI, and the Princess became the only cinema on Edmonton's southside, the Garneau Theatre not opening until 1940. Opening night was a benefit concert for the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, associated with the 19th Alberta Dragoons, B Squadron. The program proudly included newsreels "featuring actual war scenes". In audience were the Lieutenant-Governor G.H.V. Bulyea and Mayor W.T. Henry. The house's first feature film, The Eagle's Mate starring Mary Pickford, was screened the following night.
At the time, the Princess was considered a showpiece of elegance and modernity. It was the first building west of Winnipeg to be faced with marble. The Edmonton Journal remarked on the quality of the "photoplay house's" finishings, remarking on the solid marble facade, frescoes, brass mirrors and the abundance of gold leaf decoration. On the technical side, two modern projectors were housed in their own fireproof machine room. The Princess was serviced by a freight elevator, which was an unusual feature for a building of its size, and the theatre lighting was indirect and gentle on theatregoers' eyes. The Journal was also impressed by three novel firsts for a movie theatre in Edmonton: an electric ticketing machine, an "electric time-projecting clock", and a refrigerated drinking fountain. Perhaps most importantly, the forced air ventilation system was capable of filtering, heating, and cooling air and featured dedicated intake and output fans making the Princess by far the most comfortable theatre in Edmonton. By 1916, the Princess had stopped booking live acts and was focusing exclusively on the more profitable cinema side of the business. Revenues from the rental spaces in the basement and upper floors had also begun to flow in. Notably, Hugh Morrow, a beat cop, had leased apartment 205. His granddaughter Susan Morrow would manage the Princess from 1981 to 1994. Wartime proved hard on the film business. On September 23, 1915, Famous Players informed McKernan that "On account of the boat Hesperian having been torpedoed by a German submarine, it will be necessary to skip two Weeklies (short films), these having come forward to ourselves from our London representative via this boat. Regretting this occurrence, and trusting you will appreciate our position on this...". McKernan's supply of new films was decreased as the war dragged on, and McKernan advertised less and less frequently. Further complicating things, parts for the theatre's Edison and Simplex projectors were difficult to come by at the best of times, and the complex machines proved difficult to maintain. McKernan did not live to see business pick up. He contracted Spanish Influenza and pneumonia in rapid succession, and died on February 18, 1919.
Alexander Entwisle The McKernan family leased the theatre to Alexander Entwisle sometime in 1919. Entwisle managed a chain of Edmonton vaudeville houses and cinemas on Jasper Avenue including the Pantages, Empress and Dreamland Theatres. Around 1919 the basement was first leased to a pool hall, "Dad's Billiard Room". While this business was not present in 1920, the basement would house a pool hall continuously from 1927 into the 1970s.
Arrival of the sound era
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