Rialto Theatre
313 S. Taylor Street,
Amarillo,
TX
79101
313 S. Taylor Street,
Amarillo,
TX
79101
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The Rialto Theatre was opened in July 1926 with seating given at 692. This was one of many theatres in the downtown area of Amarillo. The theatre closed January 2, 1960. It went into retail use and has since been demolished.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
One of my biggest regrets is having never gone inside this theater. I walked downtown almost daily with my friend, Dave, who carried lunch to his projectionist father there. I always stood outside, smelling the popcorn, and waiting. Then one day in ‘65 or so the theater had been gutted and turned into more retail space for Fefferman’s Department Store which was next door. Now it’s just an ugly, flat parking lot at the Police Station.
The Rialto opened in July 1926. It had a major remodeling in 1942. And it had its last screenings on January 2, 1960 with “Dreamland Capers” and “Battle of the Teasers” as it went as as a downtrodden adult-centric theater (reports said the theater closed Thursday, Dec. 31, 1959 but there appear to have been showings of this double-feature on Jan. 1-2, 1960). The equipment was removed almost immediately by the city of Higgins, Texas which took the equipment, contents, and even the Rialto signage. The owner of the Rialto was its neighbor, the Army and Navy Store, which enlarged its store into the former Rialto with work beginning also in January of 1960.