The Rialto Theater started as an opera house in 1910 called the Heilig Theater. In 1913 it began showing movies. In 1919, it was renamed the Hippodrome Theater, and in 1929 it became the Rialto Theater. In 1934, it became the Mayfair Theater, and then in 1940 it operated as the Fox Theater until it was demolished in 1997.
The theater still presented operas after it began showing motion pictures. Sound playback equipment was installed in 1929. Also in 1929, the Paramount-Publix chain began leasing the theater for double features motion pictures and vaudeville.
While I was a Projection Engineer, I serviced the Fox Theater from 1991 until 1994, which occasionally showed 35mm films, but mostly video projected Trailblazer Games. Upon exploration of the theater, I found that it had a "blacks only" entrance, that led to a second upperbalcony. It was a metal set of stairs that also served as a fire escape for the lower balcony. I also explored the now walled in "blacks only" balcony, which for some reason, had a second projection booth. The seats were wooden church pews, with leather backs stuffed with straw. There were still metal tracks at the front of the balcony where the curtains used to be drawn to keep black audiences hidden from white audiences on the lower floors.