Rialto Theatre

The following excerpts are from two articles I found on this theater:

St. Petersburg Times August 17, 2003
"As for the theater's space, Kaplan has his eye on a brick building and is talking to the owner. We found a building we absolutely love," he said "It's the old Rialto theater on Franklin Street just north of I-275. It was built in 1926 as a performing arts space. In the '40s, it closed and then was a machine shop, which is what it is now. But the proscenium is still there, the fly house is still there, the balcony is still there. We'd build it with temporary decking and movable seating risers so we could take it from proscenium to thrust to arena on a show-to-show basis, with seating from 400 to 600 at the biggest".

Full article:
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/08/17/Artsandentertainment/Duo_wants_to_start_co.shtml

South Tampa City Times July 2, 2004
"Acorn initially wanted to open in the old Rialto theater on Franklin Street, just north of the interstate. The 1920s theater seemed the ideal spot, but the owner wanted far more than the appraised value, based on its location, Kaplan said. Financially, it just didn't make sense".

Full article:
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/02/Citytimes/Opening_night_now_pos.shtml

This is a 1920's photo of the Rialto Theater from the Tampa library. And the address should be:
1621 N Franklin St.
Tampa, FL 33602

Current address (according to Hillsbourgh County website) is 1617 N. Franklin. St. Architect according to the great photo posted above was P. J. Kennard and Son.

Also it seems to be currently empty or a warehouse as opposed to an auto repair shop.

This photo is a Rialto theater in Florida. There is a vague resemblance to the old picture posted by Lost Memory, but the top of the buildings don't match. This Rialto may be a new building designed to look like a classic theater:
http://tinyurl.com/ns368

The website listed by Ken MC doesn't come up when I click on the URL. I'd surely like to see if the pic he references is of Orlando's Rialto Theatre.

The link that ken mc posted does work. The Rialto in that photo appears to be an 8 screen multiplex which could be the Rialto 8 located at:
1105 Alonzo Drive
The Villages, FL 32159

Here is another photo from the Tampa Library. I could do without the annoying logo:
http://tinyurl.com/38tr4d

Looks like they want to put in a private club.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/07/Citytimes/Old_theater_may_live_.shtml

Listed in the 1941 & 1943 editions on Film Daly Yearbook with a seating capacity of 375. The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists it as the Cinema, 1625 N. Franklin Street, Tampa, FL with a seating capacity given as 530.

Please provide any stories or information that you might have about this theatre (or any single-screen theatre in Tampa) here... http://historictheatresintampa.blogspot.com
This will assist us in preserving the history surrounding these theatres in Tampa. Thank you!!

Here is a 2007 photo.

The date given for this photo is October 29, 1943.

This is SO awesome...never knew a theater was there! Love this site! The site of the abandoned area is visually "haunting" in its own way.

Some Rialto photos courtesy ferret111.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferret111/4232270322/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferret111/4232269830/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferret111/4232269352/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Another photo of the Rialto.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QZmK7ekmjyA/SLm7740tD-I/AAAAAAAAAK4/sDgOVppcKKQ/s1600-h/*Rialto+Ext+2.JPG