Hi you guys,

In case you had not already heard:

From the LA Times Monday, but the "maybe" re-development
project is still around, but not yet approved, see last
paragraph of so:

"Rialto's last picture show
The last picture show at South Pasadena's Rialto Theater
By Francisco Vara-Orta
August 20, 2007


Tina Tsoutsas blew a kiss as she said goodbye to the Rialto
theater, a longtime South Pasadena fixture that has
showcased cinema from silent movies to this summer's hit,
"The Simpsons Movie."

The beloved jazz-age institution, one of Southern California's
remaining single-screen theaters, closed Sunday evening after
81 years.

"Ask anybody who knows South Pasadena and they'll know
about the Rialto," said Tsoutsas, 46.

The Arcadia native first came to the Rialto as a teenager in the
1980s to see a movie marathon on the Beatles. She liked the
theater so much that she asked for a job there, working from
1984 to 1996 in various roles, including manning the ticket
booth, doling out snacks at concession stands and ushering
patrons to their seats.

One of her fondest memories, she said, was working the
weekly midnight showing of the cult classic "Rocky Horror
Picture Show," which had a three-decade run at the theater.

"It really is beautiful and historic," Tsoutsas said in the lobby
after a final tour of the theater with her boyfriend, Gary. "It's
just always been here."

The Rialto opened its doors to the public Oct. 17, 1925, with
organist Ray Metcalfe at the Wurlitzer and the Rialto orchestra
accompanying the world premiere of Universal Pictures'
"What Happened to Jones?" Trapeze artists performed on
a bill shared with vaudeville acts. Admission was 30 cents
and searchlights sent from Hollywood shone outside, alerting
people to the opening.

With 10 dressing rooms, a loft, a green room, an orchestra
pit and a deep stage, the Rialto's Spanish Baroque architecture
and Egyptian-accented interior design bestowed a regal
atmosphere that went beyond just catching a flick for those
perched in its 1,200 seats.

But on Sunday, about 30 people showed up for the first
showing at 12:30 p.m. of "The Simpsons Movie," with the
discounted matinee price of $6 for adults. About 200
people attended the last show. Among them: a group of
15 who graduated from South Pasadena High school in
1960. For them, the theater had been a hangout during
their teen years. They had returned to it every few years
for periodic reunions and had made a point of being
there for the last screening.

"No one is here to see the Simpsons, they're here to see
the Rialto Theater," said Andrew Noice, a manager. The
Rialto's operator, Landmark Theatres, shifted in recent
years from showing more independent art-house films to
mainstream movies to boost ticket sales, he said.

Noice reminisced throughout the day with nostalgic Rialto
customers. "Business has been up since people found
out it was shutting down," he said.

The low-key closing seemed appropriately somber for the
aging beauty's last day. The seats were squeaky, carpets
worn. The balcony was closed for repairs, the theater
warmer than the covered lobby outside. It took the camera
flashes of patrons -- allowed after the movie on Sunday
only -- to brighten up the dimly lit theater, as many fixtures
were broken and had not been replaced in years.

"What I really loved about the Rialto is how it's all original
and has the feeling like you've just walked into a place
frozen in time," said Maryam Hosseinzadeh, 29, a South
Pasadena native and graduate student studying historical
preservation at USC's School of Architecture. "But it's a
Catch-22 because it's dilapidated, and I can see where
there's water damage, paint chipping away and how it's
become a faded glory."

The theater has survived through the death of vaudeville,
two fires and threats of being converted into a parking
lot or five-screen multiplex, finally succumbing to
consistently low ticket sales that Landmark officials
said couldn't sustain its operation.

"I remember my mom bringing me here to see "Romeo
and Juliet" in the 1970s," said David Wolf, 42, a South
Pasadena resident. "South Pasadena is starting to look
too generic, and this theater is part of the cultural
landscape that I worry is dying here. The Rialto was
never mainstream and that's probably why it's fading
out."

The theater on Fair Oaks Avenue at Oxley Street may
come back to life as part of a proposed development
project, but that plan, which would take three years,
has not been approved. "It was worth the trip to see it,"
said Ralph Ramirez, 56, who traveled from Torrance
with his wife, Deborah, to visit and photograph the
structure. "This was my first time, and I'm sad that it'll
be the last."

Landmark controls the theater under a long-term lease,
but has said it couldn't commit the $1 million needed
for restoration and ticket sales aren't enough to keep it
open. Landmark has declined to release the Rialto's ticket
sales figures, but Noice said that in the seven years he's
worked there, there have been days with not one person
showing up to watch a film.

"It's a heartbreaking ending for the theater," Noice said.
"I'm more sad that it's closing down than losing my job.
I can find another, but there's only one Rialto." "

Well we can still hope for the Redevelopment Project
to be approved/funded before the Rialto is torn down!!

Jim