Last Wednesday night, I was privileged to be one of the first to view the nearly completed addition to the Rialto Theater.  This downtown Loveland (I still want to call it DoLo) gem is getting even brighter.

The complex, now dubbed the Rialto Theater Center, is amazing. I can’t wait until it is completed, probably in late January 2012.

My wife and I saw the addition as part of a holiday party/volunteer appreciation party since we are long-time volunteers at the Rialto Theater. Some of the space in the new areas will be Rialto and some will be commercial.

Many who only attend performances at the Rialto do not know that the dressing rooms, if you can call them that, are small, cramped and located under the stage.  When work is completed on the new part, there will be a very large “green room” with mirrors and lighting for makeup, changing areas and space for large groups of singers and actors to wait to go on stage.

An area off to the side of the stage will have a work room and space for risers for choral groups to stand on, and someday a grand piano can be stashed there until needed.

The second floor has a conference room and a large meeting area with a great view looking down on Fourth Street and beyond.  The same is true for the future office space on the third floor. Even though that upper level has not been build-out yet, the view to the north at night is amazing.

It was stressed that art would be part of the new design. From tile floors to stair railings, art with a “spotlight” theme well be well-integrated into the design.

Susan Ison and Jan Sawyer were gushing as they told of all the new features of the building that replaces two retail stores.  The size of the theater will go from 3,000 sq. feet to 30,ooo sq. feet, and it is going to be gorgeous.

The project is a combined effort of the City of Loveland (owner of the Rialto), a private developer and the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado.

The main floor will have a restaurant on Fourth Street, and they will hold the liquor licence for the entire facility. (I will blog about this new eatery soon)

There is an elevator now to get to the second and third floors. In the past, it was not possible to have people in wheelchairs go to the balcony. Now, with the elevator, this is possible.

I can’t wait to see the finished version of the Rialto Theater Center.  If you haven’t been to a show (and they have a variety of them during the year), make it a point to get tickets to an event

Thanks to Linda Osmundson, a fellow writer, for taking my picture that night.