Rialto Theater
320 W. Main Street,
Kenedy,
TX
78119
320 W. Main Street,
Kenedy,
TX
78119
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 52 comments
From Kenedy a photo of the Rialto Theater.
In this link, photos 16 and 17 show the interior work being done on the Rialto.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/What-wealth-buys-4303665.php#photo-4229776
The Rialto is being saved, but not as a theater. According to a San Antonio Express News article, the building is being remodeled into offices and living areas. Houston developer Walter Chance purchased the building.
Here’s another mention of a theater in Kenedy from the trades, this time from the July 1, 1927, issue of Film Daily:
I’ve been unable to discover if the Kentex Theatre was the house that later became the Rialto, or if the Rialto was the other theater Hall was already operating in Kenedy in 1927, or if it was a third theater.Hopefuly someone can save this.I love the Marquee.
Non-profit is probably not going to happen anymore. We are starting to gut the lobby to prepare it to be roofed. It wont be roofed soon, but its a start.
We have started the cleanup process of the rialto. Soon we will gutting the lobby area to prepare to roof the front section. If you care to donate to our roof fund please vist us at www.savetherialto.com We will soon be applying for a non profit status and you will be able to get a tax deduction. thanks for the support and for daily updates visit our facebook page Save the Rialto of Kenedy tx.
Hey All, I am the new owner of the Rialto Theater in Kenedy Texas. Please view my website here that shows how I am raising money and interest in getting the Rialto back up and Running. www.savetherialto.com and our facebook page which is updated daily.
View link
Plus I am selling the old arc projectors if anyone is interested.
Puzzling information datelined Kenedy from Boxoffice, June 5, 1937:
The Rex is mentioned again in the April 5, 1941, issue of Boxoffice, which says:But by 1958, Boxoffice is once again publishing items about the Rialto Theatre, and I find no mentions of the Rex after 1941. Possibly the Rex resumed its former name. But the Rialto was probably the nameless theater mentioned in a May 2, 1936, Boxoffice article about Henry Hall, which said:Motion Picture Times of March 11, 1930, listed the Rialto as one of the Texas theaters which had recently installed RCA sound equipment. As near as I can figure from these various items, there have been two Rialto Theatres in Kenedy, but the lack of follow-up items to so many Boxoffice articles about the town leaves their history somewhat ambiguous.I’ve also found these bits about other theaters in Kenedy: The April 20, 1940, issue of Boxoffice said: “Jack Farr has just opened the new Bear in Kenedy, Texas.” That’s the only mention of the Bear I’ve found.
Motion Picture Times of May 13, 1930 said: “B.F. Mumm, who lost the Grand at Kenedy by fire, starts this week to rebuild the theatre….” The fire had taken place in March, according to an earlier issue of the magazine. A 1948 “From the Boxoffice Files” feature cited a 1928 item saying that B.F. Mumm had purchased the Grand Theatre in Kenedy. Aside from that retrospective item, I’ve found no mention of the Grand after 1930.
There were also two mentions of what was probably a Spanish language theater in Kenedy. The December 1, 1945, issue of Boxoffice mentions Juan Monsivais of the Carpa Theatre in Kenedy, and the October 3, 1953, issue mentions Juan Monsivais of the Monsivias Theatre in Kenedy.
SiliconSam, do you have a link to provide for your architecture pictures? I’m very interested in seeing them.
Good luck, Rialto Theater. Hopefully things work out in the best interest of the location.
It is listed on bid4assets. you can see pics there.
Last time I drove by, I did not see much other than a new boarded up front. Did look like a new roof from peeking through the front. Last picture I have is from March 2009
Went through a month ago, but was busy taking pictures of a few other abandoned buildings, namely the old high school. Interesting old town…
any updated pics of it?
hmmm…what kind of improvements, if any, have been made to it?
$10,000 is what we have invested.
How much?
Times are tough and finances tight. We are going to try to sell.
Click on my name below, and get my e-mail address, yours does not show up.
Will get some together. Don’t have a great variety though. If I had gone inside I’d have lots more!
Here’s something you never want to see inside an indoor theatre. Sunshine!
View link
If you have any more pictures we would love to get copies from you.
We plan on doing some kind of a “before and After” page and the more pictures we have the better.
Here’s some pics I took May of 2005.
Front of building:
View link
Peeking over front door:
View link
Poking my camera through broken back door. I never wandered inside…
View link
I just moved (In Oct.) to Kenedy to help care for my mother-in-law. Being a former theater manager I was happy to see that something was going to be done with this old shell. I must say that this is by far no ghost town with a population over 3,000 it is more like a suburb than a town. The person that works in personal in the towns Wal-Mart informed us that a Supercenter is slated for August. There is enough going on here to support a Dairy Queen, Churches, Pizza Hut, and a Sonic all within 300 yards of each other. This small town has 5 gas stations. Next door to the theater is a Movie Gallery (movie rental) that only rents DVD. with all this I see the town supporting a movie theater very easily. The only other theater is The Rio 6 in Beeville about an hour away. If current owners see there way of matching the cost of the Rio experience. Then this theater could do very well. While registering with this site so I could post I could post I checked www.oldrialto.com The theater was robbed of its tools. The set back is terrible and not supporting to the new owners. I hope that the owners can still see it threw.
GOOD LUCK TO BOTH OF YOU!
good job………..thats one big project
So far, so good.