{"nrhp_refnum":"01001265","name":"Rialto Theater","other_names":["Hall-Rialto Theater"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"112-114 N. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Beeville","county":"Bee County","state":"TX","lat":28.402108283000075,"lon":-97.74896849199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick movie theater at 112-114 N. Washington Street in downtown Beeville, Bee County, Texas, built in 1922 by H.W. Hall Sr. for Hall Brothers Industries and remodeled in 1936 after a fire.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the Rialto is a fine local example of Art Moderne design on its exterior, paired with an Art Deco interior. It was rebuilt after a 1935 fire with a redesign by the Chicago firm of John Eberson. It was also the flagship of the Hall family's South Texas theater chain.","narrative":"Downtown Beeville's Rialto Theater, at 112-114 N. Washington Street, began in 1922 as a red brick Classical Revival movie house designed by W.C. Stephenson for the Hall family's South Texas theater chain. A workman's torch started a fire in December 1935 that gutted the auditorium, and the Halls hired the Chicago firm of John Eberson to redesign the building. It reopened in March 1936 with a streamlined Art Moderne front, featuring a neon-trimmed marquee, porcelain enamel panels, red Vitrolite glass and a striped ticket booth. Inside, the auditorium has Art Deco stucco relief and stenciling, with 526 seats downstairs and 200 in the balcony. The theater is considered locally significant in architecture as a fine example of Art Moderne design. A preservation association bought the building in 1993 and is working to restore it as a community education and cultural center.","period_of_significance":"1936","architect_builder":"W.C. Stephenson, architect; John Eberson, architect/designer, H.W. Hall, builder","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Moderne","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as work in progress; the facade has been restored and further restoration is planned by a preservation association.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.612255-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/38/9710/40971038/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/01001265.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001265/cb8213f976-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001265/cb8213f976-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"25or6to4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rialto_Theater,_Beeville,_Texas.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">25or6to4</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rialto_Theater,_Beeville,_Texas.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971038","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42303771"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bee-county/rialto-theater-01001265/"}