Rialto Theater
228 E. 4th Street,
Loveland,
CO
80537
228 E. 4th Street,
Loveland,
CO
80537
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Opened in 1920, the Rialto was designed by noted local architect Robert K. Fuller in the heart of downtown Loveland. When it opened, the Loveland Daily Herald declared the Rialto the finest theater north of Denver. It seated over 1000, and contained a balcony, orchestra pit and dressing rooms.
Designed primarily for silent movies, the Rialto also hosted vaudeville shows in its early years, as well as local talent shows and graduation ceremonies. In 1935, the theater was purchased by the Gibraltar Theater Group, who modernized the Rialto, though much of its original decor was untouched.
Gibraltar owned the theater until 1947, and from then until 1977 was run by a series of owners. It remained a popular venue for the majority of those years.
In 1977, the Rialto finally went dark and was converted into a mini-mall and office space. Most of its original decoration was lost at this time. By 1987, the mall was vacant.
That same year, the Loveland Downtown Development Authority recognized the Rialto as a possible anchor for the rebirth of the historical downtown area. Plans were drawn up to return the Rialto to it’s 1920 splendor for use as a performing arts center. It wasn’t until early 1996, however, that the Rialto, fully returned to its original appearance, and was reopened.
The theater was turned over to the City of Loveland two years later. Today, the Rialto hosts everything from silent film screenings to children’s theater to rock concerts.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft, Jan Schendel
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Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988
Rialto Theater (added 1988 – Building – #87002213)
228—230 E. Fourth St., Loveland
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Danielson,A.
Architectural Style: Classical Revival
Area of Significance: Architecture, Entertainment/Recreation
Period of Significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949
Owner: Local Gov’t
Historic Function: Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Theater
Current Function: Vacant/Not In Use
Here are some nice recent photos of the Rialto Theater. Click each photo to expand it.
A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 1884 style “B” special was installed in the Rialto Theater on 5/22/1928.
Myself and my family have volunteered at the Rialto for many years. I basically grew up around this theater! I still volunteer downstairs during live events and digital movies and am a projectionist for them during films.
It has been beautifully restored and so has the beautiful terra cotta interior. It just had new, historic looking seats installed throughout last year as well has having the wood flooring refinished. The theater continues to grow in popularity and improve vastly each year. It features everything from concerts, plays, conventions/meetings and arthouse and classic films. Sadly, many of the films these days are shown via a Christie DLP projector (DVD or VHS) downstairs at the soundrack but it does still run film and has a very nice booth. The booth contains two Kodak Ektagraphic 16mm projectors with changeover box and 2 Simplex E-7 projectors that date from 1938. The projectors were originally installed in the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado and were donated to the Rialto in 1998. They were converted to Xenon lamps and reverse-scan LED readers in 2003 but are still quite original and still have the 2 thousand foot reel magazines that were necessary during the flammable nitrate film days.
A very classy historic theater in trendy downtown Loveland
There was also a Pines Drive-In in Loveland, 382 car capacity that has been closesd for some time. If anyone has information on the Pines they might want to submit it to CT.
1984 Photo
A proposed construction project in Loveland would include enhancements to the Rialto: View link
Photos of the Rialto Theatre.
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