Rialto Theatre
118 Walnut Street,
Lockport,
NY
14094
118 Walnut Street,
Lockport,
NY
14094
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In 1918 Henry Thurston erected an “Air Drome” theatre on the southeast corner of Pine Street and Walnut Street. In 1922, with the help of the Schine Company, Henry remodeled the “Air Drome” into the Rialto Theatre which opened on November 11, 1924 operated by the Schine Circuit Inc. The Rialto Theatre seated 1,400 people and featured cowboy movies and a serial every Saturday. They still had live entertainment plus an organ to entertain people before the show started.
In 1924, Henry decided to retire from the theatre business and turned the operation over to his son Ray. The Rialto Theatre closed its doors in 1957. The building was eventually demolished and a bank was built on its site.
Contributed by
Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
LM, do you want to add the Temple Theater, which is seen above the Rialto photo? I don’t see it listed yet. Interesting history as it used to be a skating rink.
I’m headed to Vegas. It can wait.
An odd distinction for this theatre: in 1925 this theatre purchased a Wurlitzer pipe organ, opus 1118, a style F-special, 3 manuals and 10 ranks. A customized organ, but nothing too usual.
The sad twist on this is that in 1943 this organ went back to the Wurlitzer factory in North Tonawanda NY where it was rebuilt for radio station WGR/WKBW Buffalo NY and in its rebuilt state, was the last pipe organ to leave Wurlitzer. Shortly afterwards all the remaining pipe organ stock, parts and tools were burned or melted down for scrap metal.
The Wurlitzer company, in a little over 22 years had turned out +/– 2,200 organs. Justly or not, Wurlitzer remains, in the mind of the general public, the most famous pipe organ builder.