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Historic Texas movie theater for sale on eBay
posted by
chiliconcarney
on
May 11, 2006 at 3:19 pm
KENEDY, TX — The Rialto is currently listed on eBay as Item number: 4461464199. It looks like someone ignored the roof and it is in rough shape, but the starting bid is only $5,000.
Auction ends in 2 days (sorry, I just noticed it).
Comments (3)
From those eBay pictures, this place is seriously bad shape. Also the $5000 is a reserve price so if no one else bids you still wouldn’t win unless you ponied up more. Good luck to whoever gets it!
It looks like it sold for $8500. I hope this new owner has deep deep deep pockets. Judging by the pictures, it looks like someone detonated a bomb in this place.
The Rialto was put back up for sale on eBay two weeks later as the result of a non-paying bidder. It’s starting bid was $5000 but didn’t sell. I contacted the seller to inquire about the status and he was looking to just get rid of it- the first $3000 check he received got it. The previous owners had gutted it, but there are 3 old “black, heavy” projectors of unknown type lying on their sides (possibly Simplexes), a ripped screen, a red velvet curtain in need of repair, the marquis, and some nice wood inlay designs. That’s about it. The rest is basically salvage materials such as wood floorings and brick, possibly worth the $3k itself if someone had the time. I don’t believe there is any chance of restoration, and the town of Kenedy is not exactly booming.