Rialto Theater
219 S. Jefferson Avenue,
Peoria,
IL
61602
219 S. Jefferson Avenue,
Peoria,
IL
61602
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The Hippodrome Theater opened on October 21, 1913 with a seating capacity of 1,674. The theater was originally a vaudeville house. In 1931, the theater was renamed the Rialto Theater and switched to a movies-only policy, operated as part of the Balaban & Katz chain of Chicago. By the early 1950’s, it was part of the Kerasotes Theatres chain of Springfield.
The Rialto Theater was razed in the late-1970’s, to make way for the Peoria Civic Center.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
For some reason I liked the Rialto best of all 6 downtown Peoria theaters in my time. It was considered 3rd among the first-run houses (after the Madison & Palace) but it sometimes got the “big” pictures held over from the Madison, which never ran any movie more than a week in the ‘40’s & '50’s. It’s a real shame that they couldn’t incorporate it into the Peoria Civic Center as a performing arts center, as some preservationists implored them to do.
On 8/27/51, the Dixon Evening Telegraph announced that the Rialto had been sold to Kerasotes Theaters by the Great States Theater Group. The transfer would be effective as of September 1, 1951.
Here are photos from 1978 and 1985:
http://tinyurl.com/clbr5b
http://tinyurl.com/cqavbt
No year is given for this photo
Here’s a link to a vintage shot of the Rialto:
View link