Imax Theatre in downtown Winnipeg set to close

The Imax in downtown Winnipeg is scheduled to close on March 31, 2013.

Imax Theatre in downtown Winnipeg will close this spring.

Officials with the organization running the theatre said it has suffered substantial financial losses recently.

The Imax in downtown Winnipeg is independently run and was unable to compete for first-run releases.

“We negotiate our own film contracts and our inability to get Hollywood products - so anything like The Hobbit or Skyfall - on the day it opens across the country has really substantially affected us. It decreases our numbers. We’re not able to get those films, generally, until about eight to 12 weeks after they first come and at that point, movie goers have often seen it,” said Claire MacKay from The Forks North Portage.

Also posing issues for the downtown theatre is the fact that an Imax theatre at SilverCity Polo Park is in operation.

The downtown Imax is scheduled to close Mar. 31. The theatre opened at Portage Place in September 1987.

Three full-time jobs and about eight to 10 part-time jobs are expected to be lost.

It's not yet known what might go into the Imax space in Portage Place.