Riverbank’s historic Del Rio building demolished. What happened to its iconic sign?

The historic Del Rio Theater in downtown Riverbank has been demolished, following decades of debate and failed redevelopment around the landmark site.

A crew began tearing down the building at 6 p.m. Thursday. By Friday morning, the front half of the former movie house was a pile of rubble. The rest of the work was done Saturday.

Riverbank City Councilman Luis Uribe said the building’s iconic vertical marquee was not saved. Building owner Tony Zaia had hoped someone would come forward to pay the $15,000 price tag to rescue the massive, swooped sign. But instead, it and the rest of the building were razed to make way for a new multi-story building.

While investors still are being sought and no plans have been submitted, Zaia hopes to build a four-story building at the corner of Atchison and Third streets. His plan would have retail on the ground floor and affordable apartments on the remaining three floors.

Since 1947, the Del Rio Theater stood at the corner. For almost eight decades, its large vertical marquee was one of the city’s most instantly recognizable landmarks.

“It’s a historical site and has been a part of the area for a very long time. I understand that people are sad to see it come down, for sure — I’m one of them,” Uribe said prior to the demolition. “But we would love to see something new come in. And a lot of people are excited about new housing and retail space.”

The move is the latest in a long and winding history of the once-bustling downtown theater, which ran regular movie showings until the early 1970s. Since then, the site has been used for a variety of purposes, from bingo hall to restaurant, and the subject of a series of failed redevelopment drives.

The largest of such efforts came in 2006 when the city of Riverbank and its redevelopment agency bought the building for $1.7 million. The city had hopes of restoring the theater, which was vacant and in disrepair, and turning it into downtown’s arts hub.

But the cost of repairs and redevelopment proved too much. So in 2012, when the state ended redevelopment agencies, the city walked away from the theater, its debt and the dream of turning the 15,554-square-foot space into a community gathering place.

New theater owner had planned to restore Riverbank site originally

Then in 2016, Zaia bought the building from the city for $175,000. The Turlock businessman owns Wetzel’s Pretzels locations in the Central Valley, including the brand’s stands at Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall.

At the time, Zaia planned to renovate and redevelop — not raze — the building. The Del Rio City Center project was planned to include a piano bar and banquet hall, with additional space for about half a dozen retail shops and offices.

Uribe said initial estimates for Zaia’s redevelopment plans were about $1.5 million prepandemic. But after the pandemic, those costs skyrocketed to about $2.8 million.

Zaia declined to comment to The Bee.

Donna Kenney, the city’s planning and building manager, said the cost of bringing the 76-year-old building up to code was prohibitive. She said an estimate for earthquake retrofitting alone was $500,000.

Another sign of how its value slipped over the decades is its most recent purchase price. In 1978, not long after it ceased to operate as a movie house, the theater was listed for sale in The Modesto Bee for $150,000 — just $25,000 less than its latest sale price almost 40 years later.

Still, now that the building is gone, don’t expect redevelopment to start immediately. Uribe said Zaia is still soliciting partners and investors to help finance the new project. His new vision includes retail shops on the first floor, with around 38 affordable-housing apartments filling its top three floors. No plans have been submitted to the city for review yet, said Kenney.

Uribe said he sympathizes with the many city residents who had hoped the site could be saved, but is happy the long-neglected corner will see new life.

“I think it’s going to be positive for the businesses downtown,” he said. “The housing is definitely needed. And it’s always good to have different retail options and entrepreneurs come in.”