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The semicircular John Street Roundhouse, built in 1931, is one of Toronto's most unique historical landmarks. Situated at 255 Bremner Boulevard just across the street from the CN Tower, Rogers Centre and Ripley's Aquarium, the brick-clad building is now home to the Toronto Railway Museum, Steam Whistle Brewing, and Leon's Furniture. Now, after occupying the western portion of the building for seven years, Leon's has announced they're vacating their only downtown location, making way for the entertainment giant Cineplex to set up shop.
Marketed as "Canada's new premier social destination", Cineplex has announced their plans for The Rec Room: a 40,000-square-foot dining and entertainment space. The facility will boast an upscale casual restaurant with an open kitchen and "eatertainment-style" dining in a designated games area. This attractions space will feature a range of interactive and amusement games complementing traditional recreational activities like pool, shuffleboard and ping pong. Rivalling Real Sports Bar & Grill at the Air Canada Centre, a bar area will come equipped with a large high-definition screen. An auditorium-style space will provide a venue for live entertainment, including comedy and musical performances. The entertainment rewards program SCENE will be integrated with the new facility.
When Leon's announced they would occupy space at the Roundhouse, there were questions about how branding would be balanced with heritage preservation. Those concerns were mostly settled when the final product was unveiled, sans Leon's trademark yellow signage. As another impending renovation of this sensitive heritage structure looms closer, those concerns will likely arise once again. The new facility however will not require any expansion of the Roundhouse footprint, rather, it will be accommodated within the existing Leon's space. "We of course recognize that this is an important heritage site for Toronto and intend to work closely and respectfully with the city and other stakeholders as we finalize the design plans," said Sarah Van Lange, Director of Communications at Cineplex Entertainment. No renderings of the scheme are available yet as the design phase is still ongoing.
Rec Room locations have already been announced for Edmonton and Calgary, with other national sites expected to be revealed over the next few years. Work is scheduled to begin on the Toronto site this summer, with completion in the first quarter of 2017.
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