Rio Theater
603-609 N. Grant Street,
Odessa,
TX
79761
603-609 N. Grant Street,
Odessa,
TX
79761
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Showing 1 - 25 of 28 comments found
Mr. Holcomb, Thank you for your outburst:) It really is appreciated. Obviously the, hand-me-down, information came from the realtor who sold me the building. Would love to visit with you and see the pictures. With proper consent and credits I would also like to display the photos in the theater when we get it open.
Thanks again for your response, research, and details concerning the theater.
Sincerely,
Bruce Beaird
I just noticed Cinema Treasures has 3 sites for the Rio, So I am
transfurring my history of the Rio beginnings, so it will be here
with mostly most comments on the current Rio.
The structure was first opened at 120 West 4th street as the Palace
Theater by Joe Rice in October, 1927.
It was Odessa’s second theater, and equipped with 400 seating.
Located directly behind the Odessa Theater, which had also been opened by Mr. Rice.
In March 1928, H.T. Hodge founder of H & H Theater with headquarters at Abilene took over operations of the Palace & Odessa Theaters.
Hodge put his son in law Jack Laird in charge(Laird’s son still resides in Odessa)
Laird & Hodge were also instrumental in later openings in Odessa of
the Ector/Plaza/Texas/Lyric & Broncho Drive In.
The Palace fell into bad times during the big depression, and closed
in July 1932.
On March 30, 1934 James King reopened the theater as the new State,
but found out it was a chore competing with H & H Circuit, and threw
in the towel closing the State in early 1935. >> ENTER THE RIO.
The Scott Family reopened the theater in 1936 renaming it to the RIO.
This Rio was in oepration for 6 years, when the Scott’s built a NEW RIO at the corner of 6th & Grant with an 800 seating capacity, which
was the second RIO in Odessa.
This RIO was in operation for 15 years when it was destroyed by fire.
The walls only survived and can be seen at the corner site.
The Scott was built in 1947 next door to the Rio, and was operated
until 1959 when demand caused a new Scott to be built which I think
still stands but in disaray.
The RIO Marquee in limbo a couple years was brought out and went up
on the original Scott, and 50 years later after many up & downs with
changes and owners the first SCOTT building is still rememebered as
the RIO———-Hope this clears up some of the RIO’s foggy history.
I will be providing Don’s Flicker site with a number of old original
ads from all 3 historic RIO’S—CHECK OUT HIS SITE FOR PICTURES OF ALL OLD ODESSA MOVIE THEATERS.
ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME OLD ADS OF ANY ODESSA THEATERS
EMAIL ME Billy Holcomb———-sorry for outburst
Abilene
I urge evryone to check out all the Rio pictures on Don Lewis Vanishing Theaters SEE ABOVE —
ALL 3 RIO STRUCTURES ARE THERE, an notice Billy H Provide the pictures having worn myself thin diggin while others set themselves up stealing, and professing to know what is what..
The Rio was wonderful—Provided entertainment for troves of people
who spent hours in its magic, and can spout memeories in volumn.
billy h.
The Rio History above by me Billy Holcomb is Correct.
I have documented proof of what I listed.
I spent years finding the exact dates of openings—closings-operations.
I traced and searched it out to a complete history of all 3 buildings from actual plans/city directories/newspapers/ and
actual owners from the late Mr. Scott in 1959, and Boots Scott
thru the ninties, and many owners & decendents of owners of all
theaters.
In fact My book on the Odessa Theaters can be viewed in the
Southwest Archives at the library in Odessa-
Anyone who claims to have the complete history has to have gotten it out of my laborous toils to get it from forever being hidden.
It was me who did the work—IT IS RIGHT…Billy Holcomb
btw…..The history of the Rio is close……but not quite accurate. I have the complete story if anyone is interested.
Update— The roof is 99% repaired and we will be moving inside to start restorations on the main auditorium and stage. Renovations are moving a little slower than expected but are moving forward. I found sections on the roof that I went ahead and replaced all the way down to the rafters. Figured if I’m going to fix it then I might as well do it right the first time.
We have a new page on Facebook with lots of pictures. See the progress we make and comment if you like.
We would love to hear stories from people who have been in the theater:)
We have purchased the building and repairs are being made to the theater. Our first order of business has been to get the roof repaired. It should completed in about a month. Next we will start renovating and updating the inside. While we own the building we are still looking for investors to help with our project. In addition to the usual repairs we also must purchase and get installed a new fire alarm system and fire sprinkler system. If anyone is interested in the exact history or investing I can be contacted at :)
OOPS—I FIND IT IS NOT BELOW, BUT UP ABOVE—BILLY H.
HEY—IF YOU’LL WILL SCROLL DOWN, YOU CAN FIND THE EXACT HISTORY OF
BOTH THE RIO & SCOTT THEATER.
YOU CAN SEE THERE HAVE BEEN 3 RIO’S & 2 SCOTT’S.. THE HISTORY IS
BELOW—CHECK IT OUT THANKS BILLY H.
I think it was Mrs. Beaird that let me Troy Martin, my brother Brady and Shane Graham into the theatre and gave us full access. She was awesome….
Troy Martin
UPDATE: The Rio Theatre has been purchased by a group of local investors in April of 2010. It will be restored and converted into a musical dinner theatre.
The new goal is to help young people, who wish to persue a music career, get their start. If anyone has any questions or would like more information please contact Bruce Beaird @ Trax-N-Tyme Recording Studio in Odessa.
I had lots of fun in high school at the Holiday Drive-In…:)
My brother and I rode our bikes to the Rio in the early 70’s. We got there early and the owner let us in. She was really nice. She gave us a tour of the projector room and free popcorn and cokes. We watched “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” and some “Trog” movie. She was really nice.
Troy Martin
This theater was also known as the Luna Theater or Teatro Luna. Here is a 1982 photo.
The Scott Theatre was designed by architect Raymond F. Smith. Like the earlier Rio down the block, it was owned by Maggie Scott. The announcement of Smith’s plans was made in Boxoffice Magazine of December 21, 1945. The difficulties of postwar construction delayed the completion of the house.
The February 1, 1947, issue of Boxoffice said that the formal opening of the Scott Theatre was scheduled for that night. The opening feature at the new house was to be the Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire musical “Blue Skies.”
A newsprint photo from 1936 promoting the Rio Theater in Odessa.
Images of the Rio in Odessa from 1947-2004. rio-7, rio-6. rio-5, rio-4, rio-3, rio-2 and rio-1.
Odessa had many theaters, and I will be putting up their history.
Anyone who lives in Odessa can read my booklet on the history of
Odessa movie theaters at the Public Library.
Other Odessa theaters included!
SCOTT-ECTOR-PLAZA-TEXAS-LYRIC-RIO-ODESSA-PALACE-STATE-HARLEM-
Drive In’s Included!!
CACTUS—TERRACE—BRONCHO—PLAINS-TWIN VUE, which became HOLIDAY,
which in turn became the VIDEO PARK.
Multi theaters included!
WINWOOD-PERMIAN 4-NORTH PARK 6-CINEMA7-PERMIAN PALACE-CENTURY 12
billy holcomb
The RIO Theater was first opened in 1936 by the Scott Family at 120
West 4th Street in a building first opened in 1928 by Joe Rice called
PALACE, and later the STATE operated by James King, with 400 seating.
The second RIO was opened at the corner of 6th, and Grant January 10
1942 with 800 seating.
The first SCOTT with 962 seating was opened in February 1947, next
door to the second RIO.
The RIO burned down in January 1957, but the structure was restored,
but never again a movie theater.
The new SCOTT opened at 600 North Texas in 1959, and the old marquee
saying RIO went up on the original SCOTT.
The three Rio theaters are fondly remembered, but the Scott has left
such an impact on the city, it is not remembered to have once stood
in the structure we all remember as the RIO.
The RIO was always my favorite, and i love all three sites where it
once ruled..Billy Holcomb
Here is another photo of the Rio Theater building.
On 1/6/73, the Odessa American was advertising the following films:
Scott: “Tales from the Crypt”, starring Peter Cushing and Joan Collins
Rio: “The Virgin Witch”
Ector: “Death Master” and “The Incredible Two Headed Transplant”, starring Ray Milland and Rosey Grier
Grandview: “Thoroughly Modern Millie”
Holiday Drive-In: “Fillmore” (the sixties concert hall, not the president)
Twin Terrace: “The Other” and “Ben”
On a side note, there was also an ad for Burger Chef in the paper that day. We had one of those in South Jersey, but it sadly morphed into a Burger King when I was a teenager. The Super Chefs were tasty.
Another mystery solved and we gained an extra theater too. The seating on this theater should be 909. Maybe we should change the address to 609 N Grant so it matches the FDYbook.
Sounds about right to me lostmemory, I was just about to reply with a similar theory. I will add the Rio Theatre #1 at 601.
I think I figured this out. The Rio at 601 N Grant is the smaller 300 seat theater. The Scott theater opened next door at 603 N Grant and most likely spanned the address of 603-609 N Grant. This theater had the 909 seats. The original Rio at 601 closed and the Scott theater became the Rio (#2) Theater. So, the original Rio needs to be added here. Would you like to have the honor?
According to Cinematour, there were two “Rio” Theaters. This is the link for the Rio Theater on Cinematour. Maybe you can sort this out. The Rio at 601 N Grant needs to be added as another theater.