Rex Theatre

The San Juan Theater was a new-build venue constructed after the demolition of the San Juan Garage building in 1926. Silent film operator Louis Gerits, who owned other Rio Grande Valley cinemas, built this tight 450-seat theater for $25,000 with $15,000 for the building and $10,000 for the equipment.

E.P Collings bought the venue equipping it for sound. In 1934, new operators took over giving the system an improved sound system. Veteran operator Hugo Plath gave the San Juan Theater a major refresh reducing seat count in 1936 before closing just prior to World War II.

Interstate Theatres took a new lease on the venue in the Summer of 1943 gutting it and creating the new Rex Theatre. The new Rex Theatre opened on October 26, 1943 with San Juan Mayor A.E. Sharrer making opening remarks. The Rex Theatre was the English language theater showing second-run Hollywood hits while the Murillo Theatre on Nebraska Street was the Spanish language theater. The Rex Theater operated for 11 years closing in 1954.

In 1955, Oscar Garza took on the venue as a Hispanic theatre operating under the Teatro Rex nameplate. It’s not clear when the Teatro Rex was discontinued.

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