Riviera Theatre
112 18th Street,
Rock Island,
IL
61201
112 18th Street,
Rock Island,
IL
61201
1 person
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Majestic Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Majestic Theatre stood on 18th Street, at 1st Avenue, and opened on August 28, 1910 as a vaudville theatre. It eventually went over to screening silent movies and closed in December 1928. It was remodeled in 1929 and reopened as a live theatre on August 1, 1929 renamed Riviera Theatre. On February 15, 1930 it was equipped with a Vitaphone sound system.
Like a number of Rock Island’s movie houses, it is long gone, having closed around the mid-1950’s. It was still open in 1945, according to the Film Daily Yearbook from that year and had seating for 650. It was destroyed by fire in early morning of March 28, 1958.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Attended this theater in the early 1950’s. Would take the bus from 12th Street in Rock Island on Saturday mornings to watch a double feature cowboy movie with serial in between. Many found memories.
How do I upload a photo showing the 1937 location of this theater??
The old picture is from 1937 and shows the location of the Riviera on the West side of 18th Street between two larger building. Upper side just left of center.
This page at Quad Cities Online cites a newspaper item from August 2, 1929: “The remodeled Riviera Theater, formerly the Majestic, reopened today.”
The newspaper was probably the Rock Island Argus, since merged with the Moline Dispatch, but the page doesn’t say. I can’t find evidence that any of the other Quad Cities had a Riviera Theatre.
Opened with vaudeville as the Majestic Theatre on August 28, 1910. The theatre transitioned to film closing as a silent house in December of 1928 and was acquired by John G. Koletis of the American. Koletis remodeled it reopening on August 1, 1929 with live entertainment. The theatre installed Vitaphone and signed a deal with Warner Bros. switching to full-time film theatre on February 15, 1930. Koletis remodeled the venue again in 1936 with a new neon sign.
Burns down on March 27th, 1958.
Riviera Theatre closing after a fire 28 Mar 1958, Fri The Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Illinois) Newspapers.com
Grand opening ads posted.