A historic Rhode Island building has been demolished, ending nearly two centuries of changing uses and leaving the site likely headed for a future as a hotel parking lot.
The Rialto Theatre in downtown Providence was torn down this week after city officials determined last month that the deteriorating structure posed a threat to public safety.
The demolition brings a somber conclusion to the story of the landmark, which was built in 1829 and served a variety of roles during its nearly 200-year history.
Joseph Paolino, whose firm owns the property, said the site is expected to become a parking lot for a hotel located down the street.
He told the Providence Journal: ‘The Hotel Providence on Mathewson Street has reached out to us… They want to buy it for parking.’
The building began life as the Westminster Congregational Church, an elaborate imitation of a Greek temple featuring a full-length portico supported by eight Corinthian columns.
After the congregation relocated elsewhere in Providence, the structure was briefly transformed into a skating rink, according to the Providence Preservation Society.
In 1906, it took on another identity as the Scenic Temple Theater, hosting Vaudeville acts and screenings of some of the earliest motion pictures.
The Rialto Theatre in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, was demolished after city officials determined that the crumbling building had become a public safety hazard
Built in 1829 as a church designed to resemble a Greek temple, the Rialto Theatre building served a succession of purposes over nearly 200 years
The property changed hands again in 1919, when it was remodeled as the Rialto Theatre. At the time, it was regarded as a state-of-the-art movie theater, a name it retained for the next 107 years.
The new owners removed the columned porch and added a brick facade. According to the Providence Preservation Society, remnants of that facade were still visible on the second story when the building was demolished.
The rear of the theater was removed in the 1950s to create parking space, while the first floor was redesigned for shops and the second floor was converted into offices.
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The ground floor later housed Dragon 2000, a restaurant that closed in 2014. The neighboring retail spaces soon shut as well, and the properties remained vacant for several years, the Boston Globe reported.
Paolino Properties purchased the building in 2019 for $780,000 as part of a larger real estate transaction. By that point, the structure was already a shell of its former self.
The company received approval for an emergency demolition in September after city officials inspected the property and found it in a condition of total disrepair.
Officials reported that the roof was structurally unsound, the walls were unstable, sections of the exterior could fall onto the sidewalk and standing water in the basement was damaging the foundation, according to the Providence Journal.
Bob Azar, the city’s planning department deputy director, joined the inspection and described the building to the Journal as being in ‘a state of ruin.’
The site of the demolished Rialto Theatre is expected to become a parking lot for the Hotel Providence, pictured, located down the street
Even so, Azar said he regretted the loss of the historic building, noting that the city is generally ‘very effective at encouraging property owners to rehabilitate old buildings.’
Azar called the approved emergency demolition an ‘extraordinary measure.’
Before the demolition, the Providence Preservation Society placed the Rialto Theatre on its 2019 list of ‘Most Endangered Properties.’
‘Extant building layers and the open lot in the rear provide a fascinating opportunity for adaptive reuse with 21st-century infill and intervention,’ the organization said at the time.
‘Surely a new use can be found for this valuable and vulnerable downtown development opportunity. Otherwise, if demolished, Providence would lose a slice of its ecclesiastical and theatrical history.’
But Paolino stood by the decision to tear down the building. ‘The City of Providence said the building is unsafe,’ he told the Providence Journal. ‘We’re doing what the city has asked us to do.’
