$6 million pledged to rialto theatre for changes
Following the fates of many historic properties affected by the ongoing Bringing Back Broadway initiative, the currently defunct Rialto Theater has found a suitor to boost its low profile on the strip.
According to an announcement made yesterday, Hollywood-based Longest Marquee LLC has signed a 25-year lease on the structure with plans to spend $6 million on renovations to reopen it as a restaurant/bar/live music venue.
Originally constructed in 1917, this nickelodeon theatre may have a small stature next to its more grand neighbors, but it held a big role in Sid Grauman’s film palace empire during the early-20th century.
Today, several low-end shops fill its entrance hall, while the rest of the building remains vacant and unused. No time line for reconstruction is known at this time.
-“broadway is going to be all you dreamed it could be” - villaraigosa
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5 comments
I just visited Downtown L.A. today from Pasadena, and it was pretty much all deserted, with the exception being Broadway. It will be awesome if someone could find a way to revive all of those theaters. It was cool to see such a thriving Latin-American community in the area, but it was just too much imho.
I talked my way into the Rialto about 6 months ago and was able to explore the former Rialto auditorium. The plaster ceiling is gone, although the iron frame that once held in place is still there and seems to be complete. There are no seats and at the time I was there, the space was being used to store bird cages and aquariums - a throwback to a time when one of the stores was a pet shop. The seating is actually interestingly arranged - gradual decline down to the screen, and a sharp stadium style in the rear. The platform stage still had screen fragments hanging from the old frame, and the proscenium arch that surrounded the screen seemed to be intact. This place has some serious potential as a bar and concert venue - I’ve always said so myself, and if I had the money, I would have done the same thing.
good to hear this, i think$6 million is not alot of money for a refurbishment/renovations.
i can only imagine a construction from the ground up being 3 or 4 times more expensive.
thanks LA Opera Man good to hear a first hand account.
Congrats!
I direct a non-profit organization to promote the arts and culture exchanges within our region in Miami, FL(BRAC).
We have been in desperate need to find classic, not restored theater seats… and well in Florida they are not easy to come by…
If you decide to replace the current seats in the Rialto, please drop me a line, we’ll take them off your hadns and you can make a nice donation:
B. Pernaris
This theatre’s marquee will be impressive to see restored and relit. I hope this all happens sooner than later!
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