Riviera Theatre
2209 Main Street,
Emmetsburg,
IA
50536
2209 Main Street,
Emmetsburg,
IA
50536
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Additional Info
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Iowa Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
712.852.2660
Nearby Theaters
Built on the site of the first Iowa Theatre which dated from the 1920’s and was destroyed by fire in 1936. The Iowa Theatre was operated by Iowa United Theaters in the early-1960’s. Since the late-1970’s, it has been re-named Riviera Theatre, and became part of the Fridley Theatres chain. It is now independently operated
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
I am pretty sure this is the same as the Riviera Theater still in operation at this location. An earlier, Iowa Theater stood at the same location in the early 20th century. It burned down in the 1920s and was replaced with the existing Riviera Theater.
Judging from Google Street View, kdinkcmo is right. The building at 2209 Main Street housing the Riviera Theatre is clearly of 1920s vintage— probably late 1920s— and clearly was designed as a theater. A thorough search of Boxoffice Magazine references to Emmetsburg turn up only the Iowa Theatre in town, from the earliest reference in 1940 until the last in 1977.
There is a single 1929 reference to Emmetsburg but the name of the theater, which had just bought Western Electric sound equipment, is not given. I’d say the Riviera is almost certainly the Iowa renamed.
The Riviera is operated by Fridley Theatres. Here is the Riviera page at the Fridley web site.
Thanks for the added info, Joe.
A little more research on my end turned up that the original Iowa Theater burned down in 1936 and was rebuilt shortly thereafter; this is the building at 2209 Main today. The current theater manager believes that it was known as the Iowa Theater until Fridley took over (1980s?), remodeled the theater, and renamed it the Riviera.