The Rivoli Theater

All I can say, is that there is only one Rivoli Theatre, and that is here in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. This theatre has provided entertainment to the community for decades. Today, its still operating to hold not just films, but important areas for the community to discuss as well as gather.

In 1936, this iconic theater in Cedarburg opened to the public. In addition, Christian Beorner opened and operated a dry goods store established in the 1840s. C. Frederich Boerner, Christian's cousin, arrived in the United States and settled in Cedarburg around 1849. Christian's cousin owned a building in Milwaukee. Christian decided to exchange his building and business for working with his cousin in Milwaukee. C. Frederich Beorner would die in 1878; he was 66 years old. His wife, Anna Boerner, and his sons decided to take over the family business in Cedarburg. After his sons took over their father's business, they named it the Beorner Brothers Company. When it was operated, it was, at that time, one of the most prosperous and booming businesses in the community, as well as serving not just Ozaukee County but Washington county as well for years and years.

New additions to the building would be added much later to accommodate more space for the store. But once the business entered the early 1900s before WW1, the financial assets the business started to tank. As a result, the business and the building itself would have to rely on outside financial assets under the Boerner-Kuether Company. This reliance on their assets would result in the brothers closing the business in 1925. Mark Morgan, an entrepreneur in Cedarburg, brought and acquired the store and, as a result, turned it into the Rivoli Theater. This was done primarily because, in the late 1800s, the store was more being sought for entertainment value once the store started to fail financially. Then years later, on January 11th, 1936, the Rivoli Theater would be opened to the public. The building would show films to the public; the first movie that Rivoli showed was "A Tale Of Two Cities," starring Ronald Coleman. The building would be finished at 1,000,000 million dollars in today's money.

The Rivoli, in 1956, would become part of the famous Marcus Theater Corporation. But once the decades rolled by, other multiplex theaters started propping up across the area, around the state, and around the country. As a result, the theatre owners decided to close down the building. Efforts would be made to save this iconic building by the Cedarburg Landmark Preservation Society; as a result, the society purchased the building in 2006; to preserve the historic nature of the theater, the society decided to rebuild the many furnishings inside the building. In addition, it decided to make a replica of the original marquee inside and restore the building's 1936 style of art deco. Today, the Rivoli shows the latest and recent films and hosts community events and meetings and local films made in the area. This theatre shows how community involvement, volunteering, and a love for history can help preserve historical buildings and history itself.

Polzar, Devon. The History Of The Boerner Building, The Historical Marker Database. August 12th 2015. Accessed May 12th 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=88548.

Accessed May 12th 2022. https://rivoliofcedarburg.com/about/.

Tanzilo, Bobby. Urban spelunking: New MKE Film Fest location, Cedarburg's Rivoli Theatre, On Milwaukee. October 14th 2019. Accessed May 12th 2022. https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/rivoli-cedarburg-spelunking.