THE PARK THEATRE

The Park Theatre is the largest log cabin theatre in North America. Located along the beautiful shores of Clear Lake, The Park Theatre is a historic gem in Riding Mountain National Park (MB, Canada). In 1995, the Government of Manitoba designated The Park Theatre as a Heritage Building. 

Construction began in the fall of 1936, and finished in the spring of 1937. The original construction crew consisted of eight Scandinavian men, led by foreman, Mr. Kaare Bow. The Park Theatre, like many other log structures of the time period was funded by the Governmental Emergency Relief Fund. This fund helped to generate work during the depression. 

The theatre was constructed completely of peeled log and iron bracings. The saddle notched horizontal method was used throughout the structure. The logs were cut and sawed at Kippon's Mill. The main tools used were the axe, straight drawknife for cleaning the logs, a crooked drawknife for creating notches, and a scribe for marking. The auditorium has 500 seats and is close to 3120 square feet in area. Very few building can rival the scale, design, and structural interest of The Park Theatre. The Park Theatre opened on August 9th 1937, making it 75 years old today. 

The North Annex of the theatre was originally a grocery store, but was later converted into an arcade. As of 1948 it became a souvenir gift shop under the name, The Spinning Wheel. The gift shop changed hands in 1967 to Jim and Bev Gowler. 

The South Annex originally housed The Park Luncheonette. Since that time, the space has seen quite a few tenants -- however for the past 24 years it has been home to the italian restaurant, T.R. McKoy's owned by Trevor and Teen Gowler. 

As a family run business, everyone pitches in where help is needed. Often you will see the grandchildren selling popcorn, grandma in the box office, and grandpa in the store. 

In 2012, we said goodbye to our 35 mm vintage projectors and welcomed in the digital age with a 12K Digital Barco Projector and 7.1 Surround Sound. In keeping up-to-date we are able to continue showing current Hollywood films.