ByTowne Cinema
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The ByTowne Cinema is one of Ottawa's oldest movie theatres and the city's main venue for independent and foreign films. The one screen cinema was opened by Hyman Berlin in 1947 as the Nelson Cinema. It was soon after leased to the Famous Players chain of cinemas, and for decades was one of the city's leading cinemas. It was sold by Famous Players in 1988 when the chain moved to multiplexes. The cinema was bought by the group that had operated the independent Towne Cinema on Beechwood. The cinema was renamed the ByTowne, in honour of Ottawa's original name Bytown, and became a venue for alternative films. The 670 seat cinema is located on Rideau Street at Nelson, several blocks east of the Rideau Centre. The cinema was renovated around the year 2000, salvaging relatively new seats from the recently closed Capitol Square multiplex.
