Rialto Theatre
209 W. Main Street,
Florence,
CO
81226
209 W. Main Street,
Florence,
CO
81226
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The Rialto Theatre opened in 1923 as an opera house with almost 900 seats. By 1927 it was screening movies. It closed in 1969 and is currently being restored.
Contributed by
Richard Doner, David Gloss
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
The Historic Rialto Theatre is now the home to the Florence Civic Theatre, it is the oldest civic theatre in the country. Here is a link to their site.
http://www.ris.net/~tony/theatre.html
Are there two Rialto theaters in Florence, CO? This photo shows a Rialto Theater on West Main Street.
This article concerns a Rialto Theater located at 209 West Main St. The history in the article doesn’t match the description above, The Rialto in the article was built in 1923 and started showing movies in 1927. Its probably the same theater and the address above is incorrect.
Exterior photo
Interior during renovation
LM, I would have to agree with you, if you map it, it seem unlikely that the theatre was on Denver on the other side of the tracks. Seems like the main street address would be correct.
I think it’s time to update the address Chuck. The Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation gives the Rialto address as 207-209 West Main St.
“Constructed in 1923 of locally made yellow bricks, this two-story building features unusual multi-colored brickwork patterns enhanced by designs in natural colored slate. Between 1923 and 1975, the Rialto was host to numerous cultural events, plays, shows, and melodramas. It was the only movie house to serve the town and the surrounding communities.”
1983 Photo
1987 Photo
I grew up in Florence and it is defiantly West main.
This is NOT the OFFICAL website for the Rialto Theater. Go to http://therialtotheater.org for the offical site. Lots of excellent information there and will soon be brought up to date as to their progress. The address on the site IS CORRECT and the Google map of this site is a joke. I’ve found most Google maps to be a joke.