The Rialto Theatre opened in May 1917 with a screening of the silent film The Garden of Allah, accompanied by the Quinn Symphony Orchestra. Sid Grauman took over the theatre two years later, and ran it until 1924. The venue was originally designed by the architect Oliver P Dennis as a Greek Revival structure, but it underwent a series of renovations throughout the years. In the 1930s, the Rialto Theatre got a new marquee with an Art Deco neon display - one of the largest on Broadway. Eventually, the theatre was gutted, and its lobby was turned into retail space. Its marquee remains, however it was named a Los Angeles historic and cultural monument in 1989. "The Rialto Theatre Downtown was damaged in the process of seismic retrofitting, so there is nothing much left of the theatre interior," says Norton. "When the retailer Urban Outfitters took over the building, they did a very nice restoration of the neon marquee, and left the interior much as it was. In a nod to the theatre's history, they occasionally have silent films projected on the back wall where the movie screen would have been." (Credit: Hunter Kenhart/ LAHTF)