Rialto Theatre

Plain City had two theatres in total during the Golden Age of Films. The most common theatre for the city of Plain City was the Rialto Theatre. This theatre beat the livings of its nearby competitor, the Princess Theatre, which closed on June 21, 1930.

There’s not a lot of information on its early days of this theatre. The Rialto Theatre opened its doors as early as late-1927 and was unknown when this theatre received talkies.

One of the most unique things about this theatre, not just its a movie theatre, but also houses a church as well which used it for worshipping services during the late-1930’s.

From 1949 and into the 1950’s, Terry Anderson formerly was the owner of both Union Theatre in Richwood, and the Rialto Theatre in Plain City for a decade.

The theatre closed its doors for the final time in 1959, and was later converted into a washing machine place at the rear of the theatre. More than 2 years later, the entire theatre was converted into a library on June 15, 1962.

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Joe Vogel on December 9, 2020 at 4:10 pm

Here is an item from the July 5, 1930 issue of Exhibitors Herald World:

“Plain City Houses Merge

“(Special to the Herald-World) "PLAIN CITY, O., July 1.— The Princess and the Rialto theatres have merged. The merger was brought about by H. C. Robey, who when manager of the Princess organized the Plain City Theatre Co. and bought the Rialto. The Princess will be closed and the Rialto will be remodeled. Sound installation will be rushed.”

The Rialto was most likely the proposed theater mentioned in an item from the July 14, 1927 issue of The Film Daily which said “Plain City Theater Co. will build a $50,000 theater and office building.” Names of earlier Plain City theaters mentioned in trade journals included the Exhibit, the Star, and the Wall, as well as the Princess.