Downtown in St. Catharines in Niagara Region, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

Entertainment In The Downtown

Photographed by Kevin Westell, August 5, 2025

1. Entertainment In The Downtown Marker

Inscription. Entertainment has always been a part of downtown life in St. Catharines. The venues that hosted entertainment became part of the social fabric of city life for each generation.

Live performing arts could be enjoyed at the Grand Opera House, the Welland House, and many other smaller concert venues throughout the community such as the lawn at City Hall and Montebello Park. Music, live theatre, vaudeville, musicals, and even circus acts provided plenty of opportunity for the local community to be entertained.

Many movie theatres operated downtown between the 1910s and 1980s, including the Park theatre, the Centre Theatre, the Capitol Theatre, the Palace Theatre, the Towne Cinemas and the King George Theatre. Five theatres were located in a two-block radius along St. Paul Street and James Street and earned its reputation as "Peanut Alley". The story goes that patrons would buy roasted peanuts at local grocers and then bring them to the theatre to enjoy while watching a film. Naturally, this meant that peanut shells often littered the street!

The heart of entertainment still beats in the downtown core today

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with multiple venues hosting music, theatre, sports and film. Recent additions include The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and the Meridian Centre.

Erected by City of St. Catharines.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Parks & Recreational Areas.

Location. 43° 9.518′ N, 79° 14.577′ W. Marker is in St. Catharines, Ontario, in Niagara Region. It is in Downtown. It is on St Paul Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 264 St Paul Street, St Catharines ON L2R 3M2, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe

and in Niagara Canada.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker:

Entertainment In The Downtown - Marker in context image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Kevin Westell, August 5, 2025

2. Entertainment In The Downtown - Marker in context

The marker (extreme right) is along St. Paul St, in a concrete planter in front of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

Transportation (within shouting distance of this marker); Rotary Reflecting Pool (about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line); Ship Building On The Welland Canal (about 210 meters away); Amalgamation (about 210 meters away); Former Grantham Town Hall, 1950 (about 210 meters away); St. Paul Street United Church (about 240 meters away); The Oille Fountain (approx. 0.2 kilometers away); The County Courthouse (approx. 0.2 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in St. Catharines.

FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Kevin Westell, August 5, 2025

3. FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

Photo faces south, across the intersection of St. Paul St and Carlisle St.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 6, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 6, 2025, by Kevin Westell of St. Catharines, Ontario. This page has been viewed 77 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 6, 2025, by Kevin Westell of St. Catharines, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.