When Edmonton’s Roxy Theatre rose from the ashes of a 2015 fire, its reopening was greeted with fanfare, its yellow sign once again a landmark on 124 Street. Read More
When Edmonton’s Roxy Theatre rose from the ashes of a 2015 fire, its reopening was greeted with fanfare, its yellow sign once again a landmark on 124 Street. Anyone approaching from the south, however, might notice a blemish in the theatre’s otherwise revamped exterior: an unfinished wall abutting the adjacent retail building. Years after the
When Edmonton’s Roxy Theatre rose from the ashes of a 2015 fire, its reopening was greeted with fanfare, its yellow sign once again a landmark on 124 Street.
Anyone approaching from the south, however, might notice a blemish in the theatre’s otherwise revamped exterior: an unfinished wall abutting the adjacent retail building.
Years after the Roxy reopened, that unfinished wall is at the centre of a court battle.
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Last week, the Roxy’s owners lost an application for an easement to access its neighbour’s property to finish work on the wall.
The Theatre Network Society argued it “cannot” complete construction on the south wall without trespassing on its neighbour, CSIC Services, which owns the building containing Meuwly’s market and Washoku Bistro.
Theatre Network says leaving the wall unfinished “poses significant hazards” to the public, theatregoers and occupants of adjacent buildings, Court of King’s Bench Justice Donald Lee summarized.
The judge, however, was not convinced, and dismissed the society’s application for an easement.
Lee said he did not believe the current state of the wall poses “serious” safety concerns, and ruled there is no legal basis to compel CSIC to allow builders access to its property.
“Theatre Network’s situation is most unfortunate, but it is a result of specific decisions they made when they had an empty lot and began reconstruction of the new Roxy Theatre,” he stated.
Historic theatre reopened in 2022
The Roxy first opened in 1938 as a movie theatre. It was later converted into a live performance space. It burned to the ground in 2015.
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Work to rebuild the historic theatre started in 2019 and in 2022 The Roxy reopened, though a portion of the south wall remained incomplete.
According to Lee’s decision, the wall still requires safely “removing the formwork, preparing the concrete to receive waterproofing and insulation, and installing cladding to complete the building envelope.”
Lawyers for Theatre Network said it is “not possible” to finish the wall without direct access to the neighbouring property, “as workers will need access at grade level, at roof level, and the airspace above these areas.”
Lee said both sides have “tried diligently” to resolve the matter, despite CSIC having no obligation to do so. “These settlement attempts failed after several months of attempted resolution,” he said.
In Alberta, a plaintiff seeking an “easement of necessity” must prove it has no other way of accessing the “locked” land, which must be deemed “absolutely inaccessible or useless” without a right of way.
“An inconvenience in reaching the land is not enough to imply an easement,” Lee said, noting Theatre Network can still access its lands from the east and west.
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The party seeking an easement must also not have created the problem.
“In the present case, the easement of necessity sought by Theatre Network was created by Theatre Network as its lands were completely vacant when it was designing the new building,” Lee said.
“It could have chosen a design that did not require access to the CSIC lands. Instead, even though Theatre Network knew that it did not have consent to access the CSIC lands prior to construction, it proceeded with a design that would require access to CSIC lands to complete the south wall.”
Lee also downplayed safety concerns, noting the theatre has been open to the public for several years and that no cracking or movement was observed in an engineering report.
Theatre Network was also granted occupancy of the building by the City of Edmonton, “so there should be no serious safety concerns with the theatre,” Lee said.
The court dismissed Theatre Network’s application and awarded legal costs to CSIC.
Theatre Network declined to comment.
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