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Thu Apr 5, 2012
Local News

Ed Mirvish Theatre’s Yonge Street sign comes down, for now

It was the middle of the day on Wednesday that workers took down and carted away what used to be the Canon Theatre’s sign over Yonge Street—the part of the marquee that, after the Canon became the Ed Mirvish Theatre on December 6, 2011, had its big “C,” “A,” “N,” “O,” and “N” letters unceremoniously covered up.

Replacing it, as The Grid reported back in January, is a new sign that looks a lot like the old one, aside from reading “ED MIRVISH THEATRE.” The similarity exists for a good reason: it’ll be the same old sign underneath those new letters. As Mirvish Productions’ John Karastamatis told us then, “it will only be the façade of the sign that will change…the [existing] structure and hardware will remain.”

It’s not only the installation of the sign’s new letters, though, that has forced Mirvish Productions to whisk it away. The sign is also getting all its old incandescent light fixtures and bulbs replaced with 2,900 new LEDs. “It wouldn’t make sense to do it in place,” explains Erin Frey, Mirvish’s marketing coordinator. A job like that would require cranes, and would cost a lot more. At least it won’t be gone for long: “weather-permitting,” Frey is quick to caution, the sign will be back on Yonge Street, new lights and letters and all, on April 25.