[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Lines on brickwork: traces of the old Rexy Theatre marquee?"][/caption] A small Vietnamese grocery now occupies the entrance hall to what was once a popular neighbourhood movie house in the heart of Chinatown. It was the last of a series of theatres at Somerset West and Lorne Avenue, in various incarnations known as the Rex Fireproof Theatre, the New Rex, and finally the Rexy. With the possible exception of one or two large and lavish Chinese restaurants, modern-day Ottawans don't usually associate ...

It’s been more than seven years since Spacing Ottawa contributor Alain Miguelez published his much-esteemed book on the history of theatres in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, "A Theatre Near You”. The lavish 370-page volume, thick with archival photos, was a labour of love that joined up two parts of Miguelez; the inner child who never forgot the thrill of a Saturday afternoon matinée, and the urbanist the boy grew up to be -- a writer who laments the damage done to our civic culture by the closures of the grand "picture palaces" and their cousins, the neighbourhood theatres that were once found on every main street. The book has been a treasure-trove for Ottawans curious to know more of the social history of their city, including writer and intern architect Chris Warden in these pages, but I am embarrassed to admit that it is only recently that I finally acquired my own copy.