CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Rialto Theater has stood at the heart of downtown Beeville for more than 100 years but, after being shut down for the last 3 decades, the community is trying to bring it back.
"The theater was originally built in 1922 by John Stephenson. The same man who built the courthouse and many homes in town,” President of the Rialto Preservation Association, Mark Parsons said.
Parsons tells KRIS 6 News the theater has been enjoyed by many up until 1985 when it closed its doors.
Since then, it's remained untouched.
"Through the years there's been some deterioration. We're trying to restore as much as possible,” Parsons said.
Parsons said the work to restore the Rialto Theater started in 1991.
Recently, they've made progress. Fundraising more money and having been given a grand donation to replace the old seating in the theater.
"The opportunity with the seats was once in a lifetime. We had to grab that opportunity as we had it,” Parsons said. “That's given us a great push ahead."
Recognized on the national registry of historic places. The Rialto Theater has been through it all.
Suffering a catastrophic fire in 1935, the theater was then redesigned in the Art Deco style we see today.
"We're trying to do as much as we can with how it looked like but at the same time there will be some different things that we bring in,” Parsons said.
Robert Beck has been a part of the preservation. He estimates a total of $1.1 million has been spent on the revitalization of the building and the work isn't over yet.
"Our idea is to finish the lobby and use it to host fundraisers or small projects and things like that while we're still working on the auditorium,” Beck said.
Right now, the committee needs carpenters and plumbers.
If you'd like to help you can reach out to the theater at 361-358-3859.
