This building was an older building that was converted into a theater fairly early on. After a period as a theater it was closed and then reopened in the 1920’s/30’s as the Crystal Restaurant. Afterwards it was reopened again as the Midway Theater, which was one of the first theater’s in Allentown to be air conditioned.
I think that the Capri closed sometime around 1980. Eventually, if I remember correctly, the auditorium structure was demolished and all that remains is the Lobby building, modernized and converted to office space. The building was still being called the Capri and had a small marquee-like canopy that projected out from the facade over the sidewalk. This conversion took place around 1983/84.
Two additional notes… I remember watching them demolish this theater and as the building was cracked open it was jut beautiful inside. I vaguely remember some type of domed ceiling (or what was left of it, that was encircled by a bas-relief design of classical figures. Other than that, it looked untouched on the inside. The other thing I wanted to mention was that one lingering piece of the Rialto was for many years located outside the Hess’s store at the South Mall in Allentown. When you went out of Hess’s into the mall, on the left hand side was a colossal marble sculpture that I think was of an angel holding another dying angel in it’s arms??? This statue was originally in the Rialto Theater. And what I was told was that it was so heavy that after many many years it had started affecting the structural integrity of the building. It was purchased by Max Hess and eventually ended up at South Mall. Is the statue still there? Does anybody know?
The Rialto Theater was built on the site of an earlier theater that had burned down around 1916. That theater was named the Lyceum. The facade of the Rialto building that you see today is what was left after a remodeling. Originally the entrance building was a rather fanciful structure with a beautiful 1920’s marquee and I believe a large vertical sign that ran up the center front of the building. There was a rather disastrous fire in the Rialto office/lobby building, that I don’t think affected the auditorium structure too much, around October of 1957 (I think) during which the assistant fire chief of the City of Allentown fell through the lobby floor and was killed. I think the facade that remains today was what it was remodeled to after the fire. If I remember corrctly, the theater wasn’t really “gutted” after it closed, it just had the chairs removed and was used for storage, as is. I believe that the auditorium structure was razed during the summer of 1985 and it was at that time that a modern structure with some parking facilities was built on the site. The Lobby/office building was just remodeled and continued to be used as part of the larger building.
1970/71 would be around the right time for this demolition. I remember that I was about 7 year’s old and with my parents on our way to Hess Brothers Department Store as we came from the parking lot that was behind the theater, down the half street that ran along it’s south wall, just as the wrecking ball was swinging into what I believe now to have been what was left of the balcony. I just remember seeing all this fancy plasterwork and gilding and thinking it looked so beautiful, why would anyone want to destroy it? By the next time I came through, Pennsylvania Power and Light had built a big modern addition on the site that was attached onto its tower that bridged over the half street. I remember being afraid to walk under it for fear it would fall down on me!
This building was an older building that was converted into a theater fairly early on. After a period as a theater it was closed and then reopened in the 1920’s/30’s as the Crystal Restaurant. Afterwards it was reopened again as the Midway Theater, which was one of the first theater’s in Allentown to be air conditioned.
I think that the Capri closed sometime around 1980. Eventually, if I remember correctly, the auditorium structure was demolished and all that remains is the Lobby building, modernized and converted to office space. The building was still being called the Capri and had a small marquee-like canopy that projected out from the facade over the sidewalk. This conversion took place around 1983/84.
The statue was actually on your right went you went out into the mall. sorry for the error!
Two additional notes… I remember watching them demolish this theater and as the building was cracked open it was jut beautiful inside. I vaguely remember some type of domed ceiling (or what was left of it, that was encircled by a bas-relief design of classical figures. Other than that, it looked untouched on the inside. The other thing I wanted to mention was that one lingering piece of the Rialto was for many years located outside the Hess’s store at the South Mall in Allentown. When you went out of Hess’s into the mall, on the left hand side was a colossal marble sculpture that I think was of an angel holding another dying angel in it’s arms??? This statue was originally in the Rialto Theater. And what I was told was that it was so heavy that after many many years it had started affecting the structural integrity of the building. It was purchased by Max Hess and eventually ended up at South Mall. Is the statue still there? Does anybody know?
The Rialto Theater was built on the site of an earlier theater that had burned down around 1916. That theater was named the Lyceum. The facade of the Rialto building that you see today is what was left after a remodeling. Originally the entrance building was a rather fanciful structure with a beautiful 1920’s marquee and I believe a large vertical sign that ran up the center front of the building. There was a rather disastrous fire in the Rialto office/lobby building, that I don’t think affected the auditorium structure too much, around October of 1957 (I think) during which the assistant fire chief of the City of Allentown fell through the lobby floor and was killed. I think the facade that remains today was what it was remodeled to after the fire. If I remember corrctly, the theater wasn’t really “gutted” after it closed, it just had the chairs removed and was used for storage, as is. I believe that the auditorium structure was razed during the summer of 1985 and it was at that time that a modern structure with some parking facilities was built on the site. The Lobby/office building was just remodeled and continued to be used as part of the larger building.
1970/71 would be around the right time for this demolition. I remember that I was about 7 year’s old and with my parents on our way to Hess Brothers Department Store as we came from the parking lot that was behind the theater, down the half street that ran along it’s south wall, just as the wrecking ball was swinging into what I believe now to have been what was left of the balcony. I just remember seeing all this fancy plasterwork and gilding and thinking it looked so beautiful, why would anyone want to destroy it? By the next time I came through, Pennsylvania Power and Light had built a big modern addition on the site that was attached onto its tower that bridged over the half street. I remember being afraid to walk under it for fear it would fall down on me!