Rialto Cinemas Cerrito
10070 San Pablo Avenue,
El Cerrito,
CA
94530
10070 San Pablo Avenue,
El Cerrito,
CA
94530
6 people
favorited this theater
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Conviently located from The BART station is another of the Bay Area’s Top Ten theaters as judged by SF Weekly. This is such a great Art Deco theatre. Worth the trip out there for sure.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/08/top_10_bay_area_movie_theaters.php
A few 2012 photos can be seen here and here.
Great theater! I love it’s Art Deco interior.
Another 2010 photo of the Rialto Cinemas Cerrito. (Night Shot)
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2010 photo of the Rialto Cinema Cerrito.
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This is not being operated by Rennaisance Rialto. Rennaisance operates the Grand Lake and formerly the Park, Orinda and Oaks. Rialto Cinemas is a completely different guy.
February 2009 photo of the Cerrito Theatre courtesy dnl slavin.
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Reopens on July 15th under the operation of Rennaisance Rialto (who operates the Elmwood in Berkeley). First attraction will be the new Harry Potter film. It sounds as if RR will be running first-run product here, unlike the Fischers.
I don’t want to be a killjoy. But I’m not sure how much money is left in exhibition of foreign films. I’m sure DVDs, internet access, etc. have taken a bite out of that business as compared to what it was twenty years ago. There is definitely a solution, I’m just not sure what it is. Whatever the case I think the recent renovation means that the theatre is safe for a while.
Here is a 2009 photo.
(continued)
that shows Chinese/Hong Kong fare (there is a good Asian population there, and they can cross-market to nearby UC Berkeley as the theater is easily accessible by public transit).
Unfortunately, according to this mornings Contra Costa Times, the Cerrito Theater is now “closed indefinitely” as the Fischers have ran out of money. The Redevelopment Agency of El Cerrito pulled their lease recently as the Fischers have not paid their $10,000 a month rent on the theater for the last 18 months. (Their other theater, the Parkway in Oakland, shuttered in April due to financial issues & declining attendance.) They have blamed the shutdown on the economy, lack of access to first-run movies, increased construction costs, etc.
This is sad but me thinks that the best solution may be to try opoperating a theater
The Cerrito opened in December 1937, according to Boxoffice magazine, at a cost of $150,000. The owner at the opening was the Blumenfield Theaters chain.
This is a 2008 photo of the Cerrito Theater.
The Cerrito restoration received a California Preservation Foundation 2007 Preservation Design Award:
http://www.californiapreservation.org
See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_G-jzEFK4k
“Gee Dad, it was a WurliTzer!”
A more recent view of the Cerrito at night can be seen here.
Another 2007 photo of the Cerrito Theater can be seen here.
A 2007 night view of the Cerrito Theater can be seen here.
Here is an interior photo of the Cerrito Theater.
Anyone have any interior shots of the finished theatre to share?
Hence (and perhaps rather obviously), Cerito’s status will very soon need to be changed to “Open,” the number of screens changed to “Twin,” and the chain to “Speakeasy Theaters.” Presumably the seating capacity will also need changing, but the new capacity is uncertain (the site’s FAQ isn’t up as yet). But WHAT A VICTORY (especially in light of the loss of several beloved Bay Area theaters in recent months)!
Sweet picture. The whole project blows my mind. This place sat for, what, forty years?
This is a recent photo of the Cerrito Theater.
Go to the “Friends” web site and take a look at the photographs of the replica vetical sign and attraction boards being installed. Outstanding!!!