Rivoli Theatre

203 N. Logan Boulevard,
Altoona, PA 16602

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Additional Info

Nearby Theaters

Demolition of Rivoli Theater

The Rivoli Theatre was opened on January 15, 1940 with Bette Davis in “The Old Maid”. It was a stand alone building with marquee and ticket lobby. It had a large balcony with second tier seating.

The Rivoli Theatre was closed in 1980 and demolished in May 1980.

Contributed by Steve Kelley

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois
Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on March 20, 2011 at 2:31 am

Owned:

1940 R. Allison

1950-1955 Rivoli & Hollywood Theaters

1961-1980 Notopoulos Theatres, Inc

Also listed at Logan & Baker Blvd (which is really the same corner), but which corner had the theater? It would be better to have a street address.

More info and photos are always welcome.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 20, 2011 at 9:09 am

The Rivoli Theatre was probably at the northwest corner of Logan Boulevard and Burgoon Road. A book called “Altoona and Logan Valley Electric Railway” has a photo of a streetcar coming around the bend on Logan Boulevard (see the Google map for the bend’s location,) approaching Burgoon Road, and the caption says the Rivoli is out of view on the left. The photo shows part of a parking lot that might have belonged to the theater.

rivest266
rivest266 on October 8, 2011 at 7:23 pm

Grand opening ad for the Rivoli, which opened on January 15th, 1940, has been posted here.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on October 9, 2011 at 12:22 am

I’m setting Street View to the northwest corner of Logan Boulevard and Burgoon Road. As the location of the Rivoli given above was North Logan Boulevard, it would have to have been at the northwest corner. Burgoon Road is the dividing line between North and South addresses on Logan.

The site is currently the location of the main office of Altoona First Savings Bank, with an address of 203 N. Logan, so that was most likely the Rivoli’s address as well. The bank building might or might not occupy the same footprint as the theater did, but I don’t think it’s the same building.

BulldogSteve
BulldogSteve on October 5, 2012 at 9:47 am

Joe Vogel is correct in the previous comment. Altoona First Savings Bank is where the Rivoli Theatre was, at 203 N. Logan Boulevard. I have uploaded a photo of the demolition.

The Picasa sets posted by Dave Seidel, of which this photo is part, have a lot of old photos of Altoona, especially of the downtown area, including its theaters. The short URL for the photo is http://goo.gl/AzLYe (I mention this as I could not get the full link to appear here before I uploaded the photo, and I want to give proper credit.)

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