Riviera Theatre (Tsuen Wan) / 海濱戲院 [1991-2011]

Submitted by OldTimer on Tue, 02/07/2017 - 04:25
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
Date closed / demolished

Seating capacity: 461

Information gathered thus far from the internet turned out to be very limited.  Riviera Theatre was located somewhere in the Riviera Gardens in Tsuen Wan.  The area is now fairly saturated with residential and commercial buildings and land reclamation continues.  The theatre was likely located close to the water given its name.  The location marker is approximate.

[Edit February 7, 2017: Based on Wiki page (see tngan comments) which contains a brief history of the plaza where the theatre was located, the opening and closing dates are estimated to be early 1991 and early 2011, respectively.]

I remember the area's landscape, or rather waterscape, 60 years ago.   After rowing my rental boat out of Lai Chi Kok Beach/Bay and turning to the north, I made my first landing on a small rocky island called  零丁島 (tiny single island).   There, one could find small fish and crabs caught by low tides.  The channel between mainland and Tsing Yi Island was wide.  Venturing further north, I saw a bay on the right called Kwai Fong today.  Then, it was a large bay having water surface area about 10 times that of Lai Chi Kok beach-inlet, according to an air photo taken in 1946.

Sources:

 

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Comments

Hi There,

The cinema was located inside the small shopping arcade there.   Back in the 1990's there used to be a Rink, a Wing On Department Store, and various restaurants.  The shopping arcade was in decline since.  The Rink was closed, for good. Wing On retreated.  

There is an Wiki entry about the Riviera Plaza.  It mentioned New World (the developer) sold the block back in 2012.  The last tenant (Park N Shop) moved out in 2013 and the whole site was closed.  

T

Greetings, and thanks tngan for the additional information.   If I read the Chinese link correctly, the plaza was completed and ready to occupy in November 1990 so I estimate the theatre likely began operating in early the following year.  Given the date it was sold and the date it was closed, I estimate the theatre was closed in early 2013.  It mentions that the theatre faces Wing Shun Street so the marker I am going to move will agree with your "entrance"marker and the text.   Regards, Peter

Hi There,

Another Wiki entry concerning closed cinema mentioned the Viviera Theatre closed and the site was repurposed as Park N Shop.  In this respect I believe it closed much earlier than that.  It did not state when Park N Shop started there though.

T

Hi tngan, I checked my working notes and your link is one of those I routinely consult for each theatre.  I think we are looking at the same Wikipedia list, it reads 海濱戲院（海濱廣場）改為百佳超級市場 under the heading  荃灣區.  I am going to move up the closing date which might accurately reflect a standard 10 year lease in case it was such an arrangement. Thanks. Regards, Peter