Merced Theatre

301 West Main Street,
Merced, CA 95340

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Merced Theatre (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Golden State Theater & Realty Corp., T & D Jr. Enterprises, United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.

Architects: James Reid, Merritt Reid

Firms: Reid Brothers

Functions: Community Arts Center, Movies (Classic), Movies (Revival)

Styles: Atmospheric, Spanish Colonial

Previous Names: Elite Theatre, Strand Theatre, Rio Theatre

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 209.381.0500

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News About This Theater

Merced Theatre

The Elite Theatre was opened in 1914. It was later renamed Strand Theatre, then Rio Theatre. By 1926 it was operated by T & D Jr. Enterprises as the Merced Theatre. It was remodeled by the Reid Bros. architectural firm in 1930 by Golden State Theatres, a dominant circuit in Central and Northern California. It re-opened on October 31, 1931 with Joe E. Brown in “Local Boy Makes Good”.

It became part of United Artists Theatres in the mid-1970’s and by the mid-1980’s, the original 1,658-seat auditorium had become four screens.

The Merced Theatre closed in the Spring of 2002 because of competition from a new stadium theatre which opened a block away. In July of 2002, the city of Merced approved the purchase of this theatre for $700,000, half the $1.4 million asking price. According to the Merced Sun-Star it will be managed by the Merced Theatre Foundation, a non-profit agency, renovation work would take at least 3 years and up to $3 million to complete. The theatre is to operate as a community theatre, and it also has street-level shops and upper-level apartments.

Only 300 seats were being used in what was screen 2, but this operation closed in 2009. By 2012, the entire theatre has re-opened as a single auditorium known as the Art Kamanger Center at the Merced Theatre.

Contributed by Ron Pierce

Recent comments (view all 24 comments)

tomdelay
tomdelay on October 3, 2007 at 7:00 pm

BTW, in case you have not seen it:

http://www.mercedtheatre.org/

William
William on August 11, 2008 at 8:58 am

The Merced Theatre opened on Saturday, October 31, 1931 by Golden State and Realty Company.

jerryellis
jerryellis on December 15, 2010 at 10:39 am

My parents operated a department store on 17th and K in Merced. As I recall there was a small theatre, The Rio, located on 16th near K, which showed mostly Spanish speaking movies. This was in the late 40s and 50s.

ajtarantex
ajtarantex on October 27, 2012 at 12:06 am

The Theater is completely restored and is open now

Mikeyisirish
Mikeyisirish on December 18, 2012 at 5:15 pm

A few July 2012 photos can be seen here and here.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 5, 2016 at 8:21 pm

1961 photo added courtesy of Keith Ensminger‎.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 3, 2024 at 11:30 am

Reopened with 4 screens on June 15th, 1979 and renamed UA Movies 4. Grand opening ad posted.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 3, 2024 at 12:02 pm

Closed December 24th, 1994, when the ceiling caved in on the lower level. It reopened on July 20th, 1995. Another ad posted.

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