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Toronto theatre collapses, traps 5
Last Updated Mon, 08 Dec 2003 11:30:20
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TORONTO - Part of a downtown Toronto building collapsed on Monday, trapping as many as five people.

A wall of the Uptown Theatre fell onto the neighbouring Yorkville English Academy, trapping students as young as eight years old under rubble, said a teacher at the school.

The collapse occurred at about 10:35 a.m. ET.

The school was one of several nearby buildings damaged in the collapse.

Demolition work has been underway at the historic theatre, which was to be reconstructed.

Fire and rescue crews rushed to the scene near the busy Yonge-Bloor intersection.

Bloor Street was closed between Yonge and Bay streets.

Tow trucks took parked cars away from the area to make room for emergency vehicles, and workers checked for gas leaks.

The nearby subway lines were unaffected.

The theatre was built in 1920, and served as a venue for movies and live shows.

Written by CBC News Online staff

Students feared caught in T.O. theatre collapse
CTV.ca News Staff
There has been a cave-in at the demolition site of the historic Uptown Theatre in downtown Toronto. Emergency crews have rushed to the scene near the city's central Yonge and Bloor intersection.
The collapse occurred late Monday morning, damaging several nearby buildings including one that housed the private Yorkville English Academy.
A teacher at the English as a second language school told local news station CP24 that the north of the his huilding took the brunt of the collapse.
"A piece of the wall from the theatre... that they were demolishing fell through the length of the building," he said, adding that many students were exiting the building and using computers in that area at the time.
There are reports as many as five students may have been trapped in the rubble.
Toronto EMS spokesperson Peter Ritolo said, "We do have some people trapped and we're dealing with trying to get them out safely."
But as police, fire and ambulance crews rush to assess the situation they have, so far, offered no additional comment.
The Uptown Theatre was opened as a cinema and live stage venue in 1920.

From The Toronto Star:

The rear portion of the old Uptown Theatre on Balmuto St., near Yonge and Bloor, collapsed at 10:30 a.m. this morning. Several people are still trapped in the rubble, according to emergency services.

“A piece of the wall from the theatre they were demolishing fell through the length of the building," said John Harrington, a teacher at the adjacent Yorkville English Academy.

The affected building is directly south of the Uptown Theatre on Balmuto St.

Employees and residents in nearby buildings have been told to evacuate because of fears of a gas leak. The smell of gas is distinct in the area around the collapse and Enbridge Gas is on scene investigating.

According to Harrington, many of the students and teachers at the school were on break at the time of the collapse.

But some students remained behind to work at the school's computers.

"Some people were sitting in front of the computers … they got the brunt of it," Harrington said.

There were at least three children attending classes at the time, ages 8, 10 and 11, according to Harrington. An unknown number of adults were also attending ESL classes at the school.

"I thought the building was blowing up," Isa Ho, manager of the ScotiaBank branch just north of the theatre on the corner of Balmuto and Bloor St. W., said of the collapse.

One of the employees at the bank was hurt when a portion of the second-floor ceiling collapsed, according to Ho.

Many surrounding streets, including Bloor St. between Bay and Yonge, have been closed.

The Uptown Theatre first opened in 1920 and quickly became a city landmark.

In May, Famous Players sold the building for $10 million to Piagga Ltd., a developer that plans to put up a 50-storey condo tower on the site. The Uptown was one of three old theatres closed in recent months in a battle over wheelchair access.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission ordered Famous Players to make the Uptown, the Eglinton and the Plaza fully accessible but the company decided to close the theatres instead.

The Star's Martin Knelman reported that the Uptown was one of the few theatres actually owned by Famous Players, which mostly leases the facilities.

Famous Players has announced that it will replace the Uptown with a 10-screen movie centre across the street, which will be part of a condo-plus-retail complex at 1 Bloor St. E. planned by the development company Nastapoka.