Rivola Theatre
202 High Avenue,
Oskaloosa,
IA
52577
202 High Avenue,
Oskaloosa,
IA
52577
1 person
favorited this theater
Opened on April 21, 1921, the Rivola Theatre was closed November 22, 1984. It had been added to the National Register of Historic Places that same year. It was demolished November 30, 1984.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
The Rivola Theatre seated 600 people.
Chains for this theatre:
HOSTETTLER AMUSEMENT COMPANY (1925)
A.H. THEATRES (Controlled by PARAMOUNT PUBLIX) (1950+?)
CENTRAL STATES THEATRES (1955-1984)
The Rivola had a 2 manual (keyboards)/5 ranks (sets of pipes) WURLITZER THEATRE PIPE ORGAN, Opus 1917. It had a shipping date from WURLITZER of July 7, 1928. In June of 1970 it was shipped to Palo Alto, California and was last reported to still exisit and be playable. It may have had other “homes” between Oskaloosa and Palo Alto and may not be in Palo Alto now.
Oskaloosa was named for a Creek princess named Ouscaloosa, which means “last of the beautiful”.
Here is a 1945 photo from Life Magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/6g63zm
Andrew Craig Morrison’s book “Theaters” identifies the Des Moines architectural firm Vorse, Kraetsch & Kraetsch as the designers of the Rivola Theatre. Norman T. Vorse was the lead architect on the project. The building which was remodeled to accommodate the new theater was built in 1874 for J.H. Green and Company, purveyors of agricultural implements. The Rivola Theatre opened on April 21, 1921.
In regards to the style 150 Wurlitzer that was originally installed in the Rivola, I bought the organ from James Chase in Sunnyvale, CA in 2003 and brought it to my home in Oregon. It is currently undergoing a full restoration with the retention of ALL electro-pneumatic components (console, relay, etc…) James told me it was removed from the theatre in the late thirties or early forties by the Wurlitzer factory and re-installed in the Oskaloosa in a Methodist Church. The console wears a small brass tag from the Church. During the re-installation in the church, the Wurlitzer Company removed the toy counter and added two ranks, a diapason and a dulciana. Both ranks played on single rank unit chests (with late model black cap magnets and braided cloth covered wiring, not black friction tape). Fortunately, the tuned percussions were retained during the re-installation. I hope to find a suitable public venue for the instrument to be enjoyed. If the theatre ever re-opened, I’d love to see it return home! There are a lot of orphan theatre organs out there.
FYI. I posted a couple photos from the Oskaloosa Memories and History Facebook page. One is the LIFE Magazine photo previously posted 11/29/08, as the original link is dead. It was mentioned in the Facebook comments that the Rivola marquee is now inside of a local restaurant called Smokey Row, 109 S. Market Street, Oskaloosa Iowa 52577. There is a photo on their website.