DEER LODGE — "A poor player who struts and frets his hour upon stage and is heard no more" … Well, 17 years ago the historic Rialto Theater in Deer Lodge was almost no more after a devastating fire, but it has since been rebuilt and now the theater needs more upgrades so this great stage will continue into the future.
“It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and we just keep improving it and every year there’s small projects and some big ones,” said Rialto Theater President Steve Owens.
This year’s big project is to replace its lighting system with LED lights that are expected to cost about $250,000 dollars. Owens said the cost is worth the benefits.
“Much more functional, much more energy efficient, we’ll just be able to do much more than we can now,” said Owens.
The Rialto Theater has come a long way since it was nearly destroyed in a fire in November 2006.
“It was heart wrenching that night, but within two days, people were rallying and saying, ‘We have to rebuild.’ I mean, we had kids doing fundraisers within a couple days,” said Owens.
Musician Tom Becker who is doing a John Denver tribute show at the Rialto said he’s honored to play in a beautiful theater.
“And hearing the back story of the fire and what had happened and the rebuilding of it and it rose again like a phoenix,” said Becker.
He was delighted to learn the rebuilt dome of the theater was a repurposed satellite dish.
“And that kind of speaks to me because John Denver would be proud that we repurposed something to restore something else,” said Becker.
The Rialto will host a fundraiser dinner for the lighting system on May 6 at the Elks Lodge beginning at 5 p.m.
