Community Corner

Long-Awaited Dedication — Cerrito Theater's "Walk of Fame"

The three stars embedded in the sidewalk in front of the Cerrito Theater — reminiscent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame — commemorate the largest donations for the restoration of the art deco movie house.

El Cerrito's little "Walk of Fame" — three stars embedded in the sidewalk in front of the on San Pablo Avenue — received its official celebration Saturday during the city's festive Spring Fling street party.

The stars, commemorating the largest donations to the theater's restoration in 2006, were installed in the sidewalk in October after waiting several years inside the theater. Their public dedication was folded into Saturday's city-sponsored Spring Fling event, which was held celebrate a variety of improvements known as the San Pablo Avenue Streetscape Project.

The theater first opened in 1937 and closed in the 1960s, eventually to be largely forgotten as its exterior was effaced and the building converted into a furniture warehouse. When the furniture company left, the original art murals inside were largely intact, and a group called was formed to restore it.

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A huge outpouring of public support, from the 3,000 people who showed up at a 2001 open house to the dozens who showed up at each public meeting where the project was discussed, made the project happen, despite it being a big risk for the Redevelopment Agency,  Ann Lehman of Friends of the Cerrito Theater told the audience gathered in the theater for the Spring Fling kick-off program Saturday.

“It spoke miles about what this city is all about,” Lehman said.

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Private donations, a key part of the successful revival, are remembered with markers on backs of seats and on the walls in the hallways. The three largest donations — for contributions of $5,000 or more — are commemorated by the stars.

Here are the inscriptions on the stars and information about the donors they honor:

  • "Vic and Elsie Figone's Six Bells" — marks the donation by Susan Figone in honor of her parents' restaurant, Six Bells, which was located where the now sits on the northwest corner of San Pablo and Central avenues.
  • “Tania Trépanier Heaven Bent” — marks the donation by Cookie (Carole) Reese in memory of her late daughter, filmmaker Tania Trépanier.
  • "Friends of the Cerrito Theater" — marks the donation by the Friends of the Cerrito Theater, the community group that led the restoration effort.

The donations and community organizing eventually paid off in 2006 with the theater's reopening. It closed briefly in 2009 when the original operator went out business, but the current operator stepped in and reopened it as Rialto Cinemas Cerrito in July 2009.


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