Rialto Theatre
113 W. 2nd Street,
Kewanee,
IL
61443
113 W. 2nd Street,
Kewanee,
IL
61443
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Balaban & Katz Corp.
Architects: William T. Braun
Nearby Theaters
The Rialto Theatre was opened by Walter Taylor on March 26, 1917. By 1933 it was operated by Balaban & Katz Corp. It was destroyed by fire April 13, 1942.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
I’ve found the Rialto mentioned in the trade publications in the latter part of 1917.
Sadly this building was lost in the great 3 block Kewanee fire in 1942 .
In 1933 the Rialto was a Balaban & Katz house, noted in the October 6 issue of The Film Daily.
Opened late March 1917
The Rialto was a conversion of an old 2-story brick commercial building built sometime between 1885 and 1892, and modified over the years. At least for a time it was known as the Hallin Block, which is a bit odd since there was a Hallin building at 107. The 1910 map shows it as a restaurant.
An item in the March 24, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World said that the new Rialto Theatre in Kewanee was owned by Chris C. Taylor, who also owned the Dreamland Theatre. The March 10 issue of the same journal had noted that the plans for remodeling an existing building to accommodate the Rialto had been prepared by Chicago architect W. T. Braun. William T. Braun had been the architect of the Barker-Swan Film Service studio at Peoria, Illinois, according to Motography of March 25, 1916.
The Rialto opened in the existing Heaps Building on March 26, 1917 by Walter Taylor with “The Gates of Eden” and Weonna Campbell at the console of the $5,000 Seeburg Pipe Organ Orchestra.
The Rialto added sound to maintain commercial viability. On April 12, 1942, the Rialto played “The Mad Doctor of Market Street” and “Hands Across the Rockies” supported by the serial, “Don Winslow Joins the Navy.” The Rialto was then destroyed by fire on April 13, 1942… but they played out the remaining episodes of the serial at another theater.