San Francisco Theatres: The Rialto Theatre

5177 Mission St. | map |

Opening: 1925. The building is on the east side of Mission just south of Geneva Ave.

Architect: Reid Brothers. The image is taken from their plans for the project that are in the collection of Gary Parks. See twelve images from the blueprints down at the bottom of the page.

Seating: 600 is the number shown on the plans.

Jack Tillmany discusses the project:

"In the mid-1920s Golden State Theatres was on a building spree, and targeted two too many sites in the Outer Mission. In November 1924 they announced the purchase of a site on the East side of Mission at Rolph (one block beyond Geneva Avenue) for the construction of a theatre, (which eventually opened as the Rialto, and six months later, a site at Mission and Oliver for another named the State.

"While the Granada (nee Excelsior), Amazon (later Apollo), and Daly City were long standing and successful venues, the State and the Rialto failed from the beginning, yet the buildings are still there 90 years later, having long since found more successful means of productivity."

Closing: c.1929 due to competition from the newly constructed Amazon Theatre nearby. Jack comments:

"Over-construction in an area with a limited audience base, who apparently favored the Amazon and Daly City venues, along with the economic depression of the 1930s brought about its closure."

Jack theorizes that in 1930 Golden State Theatres took over the Wigwam Theatre, 2555 Mission St., and renamed it the New Rialto. Later it became the Crown Theatre.

Status: The dead Rialto became Siri's Market sometime in 1954. It's unknown what the use was before the market conversion. It's now a billiard parlor with most of its decor still intact.

Recent interior views:

A 2011 view toward the proscenium by Gundi Vigfusson. It appears with "The Standing Dead," a fine Bold Italic page by Sam Harnett about abandoned San Francisco theatres.

Another look to the front. Photo: Bill Counter - 2015

The rear of the house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2015

A side wall molding detail. Photo: Bill Counter - 2015

More exterior views:

On the far right it's a 1937 look at the closed theatre. We're looking at the east side of Mission St. just south of Geneva -- the theatre is at Mission and Rolph. The photo from the Tom Gray collection ended up with Jack Tillmany. It appears on the San Francisco Public Library website.

On the marquee it says "Amazon Theatre" as they're advertising the newer venue close by. That billboard beyond the back of the #40 interurban car is advertising the August 1937 release "Artists and Models" with Jack Benny and Ida Lupino. It says "See it at the Fox."

A detail from the 1937 photo. "Visit the Amazon Theatre - 'Just around the corner.'"

The theatre as Siri's Market in May 1954, long before it became a billiard hall. The occasion for the photo was the market's opening. The photo is in the collection of the San Francisco Public Library. Thanks to Phil Litchenstein for finding the photo for a post on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered.

A 2009 photo by Anomalous A on Flickr.

A 2011 photo by Gundi Vigfusson appearing with the article "The Standing Dead" on the site Bold Italic.

A 2015 look at the building. Photo: Bill Counter

Images from the plans for the project that are in the Gary Parks collection:

A title block on the first sheet.

A south elevation.

A section through the building giving us a look at the house left wall. There's not much of a second floor. Note the floorplan for the booth area in the lower left corner of the drawing.

A detail from the section. That's the house left organ grille area at the far right. Gary comments: "I find it interesting how the standard Reid nabe house gently vaulted ceiling stops just short of the organ chambers, and goes up a bit, creating a flat, lit cove."