For nearly 75 years, the Del Rio Theatre stood as the iconic landmark of downtown Riverbank. This week, it is no longer.
A two-month project to demolish the buildings has all but wrapped up, with just some dirt, a little concrete and a few broken utility pipes remaining behind, partially surrounded by a construction fence that should be gone soon.
The owner of the property said he is planning a mixed-use construction for the site, with storefronts on the ground floor and three stories of housing above them.
Rich Riverbank History
The Del Rio Theatre opened on April 30, 1947, according to Riverbank Historical Society records, with Wallace Beery starring in the film “The Mighty McGurk.”
The site, two separate buildings, actually, featured storefronts and restaurant space in a single-story building that also hosted the marquee. Next door, seemingly attached, but not really, was the two-story theater building that also had storefronts along Third Street. The way the walls are decorated, at least at ground level, it looked like a single structure.
Most recently used as a restaurant next door to the auditorium, the big room was last used as a community theater, by both the Riverbank Community Theater and Rio Arts organizations. It hosted stage productions, art shows, gospel shows, dinner theater and was used as a rehearsal hall.
The theater groups have staged such popular plays as “The Odd Couple,” “A Christmas Story,” “Oklahoma,” and “Bye, Bye Birdie” among others. “Miracle on 34th Street” may have been the last production staged there.
Before the city’s Redevelopment Agency (RDA) bought the property, the hall was used for bingo. In 2006, the RDA acquired the facility in hopes of turning it into a downtown creative arts center.
When the RDA finally did a structural analysis of the building, it found problems with the roof supports. With the concrete walls including columns that held up the arch roof supports, the investigation found about half of them were no longer seated on their corresponding columns.
The city was forced to condemn the buildings, fearing the taller might fall onto the restaurant/storefronts. At that point the public was no longer allowed to use the facility. After that, it had been used to store excess city property.
One of the final acts of the RDA was a vote to demolish the buildings, hopefully to rebuild modern facilities on the site. At the time, considerable effort was expected to be made to preserve the iconic sign and marquee on the corner.
Before any of that could happen, in 2012, then-Governor Jerry Brown did away with redevelopment agencies up and down the state. A Designated Local Authority (DLA) was created to dispose of the property and manage the bond debt from the RDA.
Since that time, the DLA had been trying to sell the site, along with the former Reed’s Automotive next door.
The new owner replaced the gas station with a modern office building, but found the costs to rehab the theater complex prohibitive.
The sale finally occurred in 2016, with the new owner stripping down the interior walls and ceiling to allow architects access to the utilities in those walls.
Demolition Extends
Begun the first week of June, demolition of the site has taken almost two months, with just a few minor details remaining. The buildings came down in just a couple of days, with breaking up and hauling away the debris occupying most of that time.
Where the original plan called for somehow saving the iconic marquee that stood above the entrance, at the corner, some foresaw the demise of the meaningful symbol of downtown Riverbank, others clung to hopes that it could somehow be preserved, restored or modified to remain.
Troy Lea, owner of Lea Demolition, said that it became impossible to rescue the iconic marquee. Although a much lower cost has been reported elsewhere, he said it would have cost him in excess of $200,000 to do the work. It would also require closing off Atchison Street/Highway 108 for most of a day, he said, which would involve getting permission from Caltrans.
