South Pasadena’s Rialto Theater to Reopen!

If any of you have driven down Fair Oaks in the past, you’ll longingly drive by the Rialto Theater wishing it would reopen. As Frank Shyong of the LA Times reports, South Pasadena is getting its wish:

Izek Shomof, a prominent redeveloper of older buildings in downtown Los Angeles, has purchased the historic Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena and hopes to turn it into an entertainment venue that could include a bar and screenings of old movies.

What’s encouraging is Shyong’s addition that:

Shomof’s pattern is to buy older buildings and put them back together. He’s helped redevelop several older buildings in downtown Los Angeles, and he’s leading a group of investors who want to transform the historic Sears Tower in Boyle Heights into shops, restaurants, apartments and creative space.

Now if they could only make Fair Oaks a bit more pedestrian friendly…