The York Theatre's fight for survival reached a happy conclusion on January 30, when Wall Financial Corporation bought the site from Vintage Development Corporation for $2 million.

Plans for the theatre's redevelopment, made possible through a partnership between the Cultch, the City of Vancouver, and Wall Financial Corp., were revealed at a February 2 news conference, where a panel of speakers included Mayor Gregor Robertson, Wall Financial Corp. president Bruno Wall, Cultch executive director Heather Redfern, Save the York Theatre Society founder Tom Durrie, development consultant Jim Green, and architect Gregory Henriquez of Henriquez Partners Architects.

Since 1981, the York, at 639 Commercial Drive, has been the focus of a battle between members of the Save the York Theatre Society, lead by Durrie, and a series of developers—most recently Vintage Development Corp., which purchased the site in October 2007 at an asking price of $952,000 and planned to replace it with eco-friendly townhouses.

Green revealed at the news conference that he had helped broker an arrangement between Bruno Wall and the Cultch: Wall would purchase and renovate the venue, and the Cultch would run it. The deal was contingent, however, on city council's support for the site. On December 18, 2008, amid mounting public pressure to save the historic theatre, city councillors voted unanimously to help Wall Financial Corp. finance the theatre's acquisition through a mix of density transfer, property-tax exemption, and capital funding.

Robertson said the city's push to save the venue was “a reflection of city hall's commitment to the arts community in recognizing not only the community and social importance of the arts, but the economic importance of artists. The creative sector is a fundamental part of our economy here.”

Robertson could not, however, promise that another historic theatre currently under threat of demolition, the Pantages Theatre at 152 East Hastings Street, will receive similar support from the city. “We're still looking at all available options to save the Pantages Theatre,” he said. “It's an incredibly important theatre to our history, to this city. It's a challenging time for the city to be tackling it. We're still working on it.”

The 470-seat York Theatre, which has survived numerous threats of demolition over its 97-year history, will be given a $12-million face-lift by Henriquez Partners Architects, which is to include an entrance faí§ade restored to its 1937 art-deco appearance; upgrades to its historic interiors, stage, fly tower, and auditorium; and the addition of a modern, two-storey glass lobby. The project, said Green, is expected to be completed in two years' time.