Still Old School
Rialto Theatre
More than 4,000 people chipped in on your seat.
The Story
Deer Lodge's 1921 movie palace on Main Street, rebuilt with help from more than 4,000 donors after a 2006 fire. Weekend movies, school plays and live shows.
The Rialto went up in 1921 as a Beaux-Arts movie palace with 720 seats. In 1995 a nonprofit formed to buy it from the family that built it, and ran it with more than 300 volunteers.
On November 4, 2006, fire gutted the auditorium, the lobby and the balcony. The terra cotta front, the side walls, the projection booth and the stage, with six original 1921 backdrops, were saved. Reconstruction ran July 2008 through May 2012 and cost about $3.5 million, raised from more than 4,000 donors. It came back with about 485 seats, more legroom and an elevator. Fewer seats, more legroom. Your knees will not file a complaint.
It’s the only auditorium in the county, so it does a bit of everything: school plays, concerts, recitals, civic events, funerals, a 2026 songwriter series, and weekend movies.
Catch a Friday movie. More than 4,000 people chipped in on the seat you’re sitting in.
Why It's Still Old School
It's the only auditorium in Powell County, which means school plays, recitals, concerts, funerals and the Friday night movie all share one room.
Photos
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Still There.
- Address
- 418 Main St., Deer Lodge, MT, 59722
- Phone
- 406-846-7900
Sources
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