South Pasadena’s Landmark Rialto Theatre to Reopen in June … But Only for One Night

Its neon lights back on, its historic name intact, the Rialto Theatre will be back in business next month – for one night, that is.

The South Pasadena Preservation Foundation received confirmation last week that it can open the doors to the facility on June 6 to hold its annual membership meeting.

The theater, which has been closed for about four years, was sold in January to Izek Shomof and partners, but on a limited basis it can be “used under the right supervision of fire personnel,” explained South Pasadena City Manager Sergio Gonzalez. “There is no structural problem with the Rialto, but there are some issues the new owners need to address.”

South Pasadena City Council members gave their stamp of approval during their May 6 meeting to allow the Preservation Foundation to hold the meeting at the site.

“They felt that it would be positive step to have it there and breathe some life into the theater,” explained Gonzalez, noting that new ownership will soon reveal its plans for the interior and look to restore the aging and dilapidated façade, with approval from the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission.

Gonzalez stressed that the theater’s new ownership is on board with the meeting. “We think it’s a win-win-win for the city, the Preservation Foundation and for the owners to come together and approve the use of the theater for this type of event.”

There’s a misconception among many, said Gonzalez, that the building was “red tagged” by city officials as to why it was closed to the public in 2011.

“The building was closed due to the previous owner’s unwillingness to address some fire safety concerns,” he said. “After thorough evaluation from our fire department, a decision was made that if appropriate fire department personnel are on site during this type of assembly, it would be okay and safe to allow this meeting to move forward.”

The building is “structurally in good shape,” stressed Gonzalez, but the façade and other elements need to be addressed.

“But the building is not red tagged,” he insisted. “The previous owner elected not to make basic improvements and decided to shut the doors. We understand the new owners want to revitalize it as soon as possible. There was a notice posted, but that was from the fire department. A red tag comes from a building department official, making the determination that the building is unsafe to occupy. We never made that determination. There was an inspection made by a building official and fire department personnel and it was determined that the reasons to not allow large assemblies in there was because of some fire code issues.”
The public is invited to see the Rialto Theatre before new ownership begins plans to restore the structure that opened in 1925. The South Pasadena Preservation Foundation will hold its annual meeting and Preservation Awards Gala on Saturday, June 6, at 6:30 p.m.

For more information visit their website at sppreservation.org/

 

For more, see Rialto to Open! …for One Night