Redland Theater

608 Frisco Ave., Clinton, OK
Phone:

East < GO > West

When C. G. Welch built the Rialto Theater in early 1922 it cost of about $75,000.00. The theater opened in early April 1922 and featured amenities like box seats and a pipe organ. The theater offered silent movies and stage shows and other programs. According to the local paper at the time the stage lighting system was comprised of about 1,000 various light bulbs that could be lit in apparently endless combinations.

The Griffith Amusement Company purchased the theater in the mid-30s and continued to operate it at least into the 1950s. The name change from Rialto to Redland came along with a major remodeling that included a new marquee and neon sign. According to an article in the local paper that remodeling also included a new facade with tiled walls on the first floor and "corrugated asbestos" panels (since removed) above the marquee. In this 2013 photo above the tiles on the first floor appear to have been replaced with a stone veneer and the panels on the upper section removed. More changes were to come.

The neon sign was reportedly going to be restored in 2021. The theater was no longer operating as a theater in 2013 when it appeared to be a custom printing shop, but the exterior of the building still holds the marquee and neon sign.

In its heyday the theater featured a single screen and seated between 700 and 800 moviegoers. It is located on Frisco Ave. which was part of an early alignment of Route 66 through Clinton.

By 2019 the upper section of the building had been covered in some kind of material that appeared to be coming off in chunks and tile had replaced the stone veneer on the first floor.

Photo(s): 2013, 2019