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Weekend Demolition Reduces Del Rio Complex To Rubble
DEMO CREW
Crew members of Lea Demolition take care of some minor details following their teardown of the Del Rio Theater complex on Thursday and Friday last week. Thursday night, the single-story restaurant building came down, then during the day on Friday, the two-plus story theater auditorium was demolished. Ric McGinnis/The News

In the past, the question was: will it stay or will it go? The end of last week saw the answer to that query, to the dismay of many long time Riverbank residents. It is gone.

Work started on Thursday evening, June 1 and continued on Friday, June 2 on the Del Rio Theater complex, at the corner of Atchison/Highway 108 and Third Street, demolishing the two structures.

The complex has been standing sentinel over the intersection, with the Del Rio Theatre marquee looking out over downtown traffic since the 1940s.

The theater opened on April 30, 1947 with Wallace Beery in “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 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 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. Considerable effort was expected to be made to preserve the iconic sign and marquee on the corner.

Before that could happen, in 2012, the governor did away with redevelopment agencies up and down the state. A Designated Local Authority 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.

Troy Lea, owner of Lea Demolition, started work at 6 p.m. Thursday, and by 10 p.m., the restaurant building was reduced to rubble. Work resumed on Friday, and by the end of the day, the auditorium was on the ground as well.

While 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.

Lea 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.

A possible use reportedly suggested by the owner would be constructing a four-story building on this corner, with storefronts on the ground level and three stories of affordable housing above.In the past, the question was: will it stay or will it go? The end of last week saw the answer to that query, to the dismay of many long time Riverbank residents. It is gone.

Work started on Thursday evening, June 1 and continued on Friday, June 2 on the Del Rio Theater complex, at the corner of Atchison/Highway 108 and Third Street, demolishing the two structures.

The complex has been standing sentinel over the intersection, with the Del Rio Theatre marquee looking out over downtown traffic since the 1940s.

The theater opened on April 30, 1947 with Wallace Beery in “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 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 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. Considerable effort was expected to be made to preserve the iconic sign and marquee on the corner.

Before that could happen, in 2012, the governor did away with redevelopment agencies up and down the state. A Designated Local Authority 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.

Troy Lea, owner of Lea Demolition, started work at 6 p.m. Thursday, and by 10 p.m., the restaurant building was reduced to rubble. Work resumed on Friday, and by the end of the day, the auditorium was on the ground as well.

While 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.

Lea 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.

A possible use reportedly suggested by the owner would be constructing a four-story building on this corner, with storefronts on the ground level and three stories of affordable housing above.

BRICKS
Demolition of the Del Rio Theater complex began at 6 p.m. Thursday, and by the next morning, the single-story restaurant portion lay in piles of rubble, surrounding some of the equipment that was used in its demise. By the end of Friday, the piles had grown and the adjoining auditorium was down on the ground as well. Ric McGinnis/The News
THEN & NOW
What was once an iconic landmark in downtown Riverbank was reduced to a pile of rubble after last week’s demolition of the Del Rio Theater building, on the corner of Atchison and Third streets. Efforts to preserve the theater’s signature marquee proved to be untenable, according to demolition manager Troy Lea, because of the excessive costs involved. Ric McGinnis/The News