Vancouver city council voted today (January 31) to request that the B.C. provincial government allow the Rio Theatre to continue showing movie screenings without alcohol service.

The move follows the province’s approval of a primary liquor licence for the Rio to serve alcohol at live events such as concerts. The licence, however, prohibits the East Vancouver venue from screening any films.

Current provincial legislation does not allow for a live performance venue to serve alcohol if it also shows movie screenings at other operating times.

Vision Vancouver councillor Heather Deal, who introduced the motion, called current provincial liquor laws “not only out of fashion, and out of time, but they just don’t make any sense.”

“There’s gaps, there are cross purposes. If the goal is safety and ensuring the kids aren’t drinking in theatres, we can get there in other ways,” she said.

Deal noted that while a review of provincial liquor laws is needed, she hopes to see the Rio permitted to continue showing films without alcohol service in the near-term.

“We believe that our request to show movies without alcohol is more than reasonable, and there’s no public safety issue if there’s no alcohol present,” Corinne Lea, the general manager and owner of the Rio Theatre, told council during discussion of the motion.

Lea said the venue has been losing about $2,000 each day the venue is closed due to cancelled film screenings.

“I stand to lose about $20,000 this week alone,” she said. “We simply can’t afford to lose much more before we are forced to close our doors.”

Lea said she also sees a multi-purpose venue as a good model to save other independent movie theatres.

"The single screen, independent theatres are a dying breed, and I think the only way to save them is the way they've gone in the States and other countries, which is to make them multi-use, and allow them to do these kinds of events," she said.

Deal predicted that as land values continue to rise, Vancouver's creative sector will consist of more multi-use spaces.

"If we're going to have creative enterprise and these kinds of small businesses survive in the city of Vancouver, they're going to have to be multi-use spaces," she said.

"It could have performance arts, culinary arts, visual arts, you could have live bands and movies," she said. "This kind of multi-use space, especially a perfect location like Broadway and Commercial, will work."

Mayor Gregor Robertson described the Rio as a cultural venue that has been “breaking the mold”.

“I think there’s clearly a real need culturally for theatres like the Rio, and other businesses that bring new ideas and new possibilities to the table,” he said.

The motion, which was passed unanimously by council, requests that the provincial government, through the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch, provide a condition on the Rio Theatre’s liquor licence to allow them to show movie screenings without alcohol service when no live events are scheduled. It also requests that the provincial government undertake a review of liquor policy to streamline existing regulations.

Vancouver city council voted last year to endorse the Rio Theatre’s liquor licence application.