Rialto Theatre
2723 San Pablo Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94607
2723 San Pablo Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94607
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 7 comments
The theatre was showing “Crime in the Streets” on October 7, 1956 when a brawl occurred. The theatre was padlocked and did not reopen. In 1957, it became home to Saint’s Rest Baptist Church which had taken over the Rialto. They used the projection system to screen, “Noah’s Ark.” After being put up for sale,it was home to Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church and St. Paul Baptist from 1960 to at least 1965.
1940s photo added via Philip Duhe.
Street View needs to shift just a bit right to get a full frontal view of the Rialto’s building, now the Miraculous Word Christian Center.
The July 4, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World said that J. W. Jespersen and A. C. Dippo’s new, 400-seat theater on San Pablo Avenue at 27th Street was to be opened on July 27. As it is listed with 740 seats it was obviously expanded at some point. Possibly the 1915 opening gsmurph cites was a reopening after an expansion. It was not unknown for theaters to be expanded within a year or two of opening in those days.
My father, J.W. Jespersen, and A.C. Dippo, my uncle were co-owners of the Rialto for a number of years. I knew the “show” from my earliest days until it was sold to Helene Madsen. I am not sure of the year, but intend to research more information and post it in the future.
The Rialto opened in 1915 as the Avenue (presumably after San Pablo Avenue), named Rialto in 1922, renamed New Rialto in 1935, but apparently reverted to Rialto before closing in 1956.
After a period of abandonment, the Rialto was converted in the late 1970’s into a neighborhood church. Not sure if that church is still in operation (at least at that location); but the building still stands.