River Hills Theatre & Riviera Theatre
222 Crocker Street,
Des Moines,
IA
50309
222 Crocker Street,
Des Moines,
IA
50309
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Carmike Cinemas, Davis Theatres, Dubinsky Brothers, Excellence Theatres
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Apr 1, 2013 — "2001: A Space Odyssey" 45th Anniversary – The Cinerama Engagements
- May 23, 2012 — Celebrating the Original STAR WARS on its 35th Anniversary
- May 21, 2010 — Happy 30th, "Empire"
- Aug 21, 2009 — "Alien" 30th Anniversary
- Apr 9, 2009 — Remembering Cinerama (Part 26: Des Moines)
- May 25, 2007 — Happy 30th, Star Wars!
The River Hills Theatre & Riviera Theatre is a rare example of two theatres, in the same building, which operated under different names; and not as a twin.
The River Hills side was designed to show single-strip Cinerama films and the Riviera Theatre side was designed to show regular movies in a twin configuration.
The theatres were built by the former Davis Theatres chain in September 1971, at the same time as the Riviera Theatre in Sioux City. It was taken over by Dubinsky Brothers in 1976. On December 1, 1989 it was taken over by Excellence Theatres. In September 1991 Carmike Cinemas were the operators.
Sadly, the River Hills Theatre & Riviera Theatre was closed by Carmike Cinemas on September 7, 2000 with Richard Gere in “Autumn in New York” & Richard Dreyfuss in “The Crew”.
It was demolished in March 2002 and the Wells Fargo Arena has been built on an expanded site.
Contributed by
Mike Geater
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Recent comments (view all 21 comments)
Newspaper ad from the Des Moines Register, May 27,1977
“Begins Tonight! Star Wars. Star Wars will presented with DOLBY SOUND a special new sound system that the River Hills has installed that will astound your mind with the ULTIMATE QUAD SYSTEM. Adults $3.00, Children under 12 $1.25”
Playing at the Riviera Twin- The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
Ads for films playing at the theatre – http://cineramahistory.com/riverhills.htm
I use to work there back in the mid to late 70’s! Great memories of when movies ran…for a YEAR! Like Star Wars. I remember the 1 year anniversary. We employees got dressed up like the characters.
It may have shown a Cinerama film, but it would have been a single strip print. This theater was not built for the full 3-projector setup. The curved screen was also not deep enough for the full 146º wrap around image. It is not only closed, but sadly, it was torn down years ago to make room for an arena.
Demolished March 2002.
The “Hills” opened with JJ3 Centurys with Futura II lamphouses. Century 6 track system, 300 watts. Screen was 88 feet with 22 foot depth of the curve providing a 72 foot chord. Screen remaine din place until closing. Sound system was upgraded to CP200 with all accessories driving BGW 250D amplifiers bi-amped with BGW 750D’s driving former Sensurround subwoofers. All stage drivers converted to JBL with 8 Altec A-7 surrounds. Platter sintalled with Strong Super 80 burning 6K bulb. New custom ground Isco lenses replace original Cinerama lens. Riviera side ultimately received the #2 Century JJ3 with CP100 to allow for 70MM move over from the Hills.
A chronology of 70mm presentation history in Des Moines has recently been published. River Hills is mentioned numerous times.
TimReed: What films played in 70mm on the Riviera side?
MSC77: To my knowledge no 70MM runs occurred on the Riviera side
Filling in a bit of operator history here. Davis Theatres sold its final theaters in 1976 to Dubinsky Bros Circuit which took on this venue. Excellence Theatres took over here effective on December 1, 1989. In 1991, Carmike and Excellence created a joint operating agreement in February and, that same year, essentially buying out the Excellence side by September. This moved the venue to Carmike ownership.
Carmike declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August of 2000 and shedded a number of low-performing venues nationwide to escape bad leases realted to aged triples, quads and cookie cutter late multiplex-era houses as they were over-extended in the build out of megaplexes of the late 1990s. In Des Moines, alone, Carmike fresh under bankruptcy protection moved on from the Fleur 4 and Valley 3 on August 24, 2000; here at the River Hills-Riviera on September 7, 2000; the Westwood 6 and the Sierra 3 after September 14, 2000 and at the Carmike 11 on September 21, 2000. “Autumn in New York” and “The Crew” were the final listings on September 7, 2000 for the River/Riveria.