The 1922 Rialto Theater occupies a prominent location in downtown Westfield, NJ. The building is located within the National Register-eligible and locally-defined Westfield Commercial Historic District. The Rialto closed in 2019 and was last used as a two-story multiplex movie theater with six auditoria, offices, support spaces, and attached retail stores.
Local recognition of the fact that a repurposed Rialto has the potential to play an important local and regional role in stimulating interest in and exposure to the arts while serving as a critical economic engine for the town led to a vision for a new community-focused destination known as The Center for Creativity. Mills + Schnoering Architects, LLC (M+Sa) was hired to work with The Center to develop a plan that would bring life back to the building, reactivate the street and sidewalk, and create a welcoming beacon for all.
M+Sa’s plans call for a multi-purpose event space capable of hosting live performance with a seating capacity of approximately 250 people or more, which could be utilized for film screenings, live music, dance, theater, lectures, parties, and gallery exhibitions. The event space features a two-story operable partition that when open joins the formal seating area with the lobby, providing flexibility for various event types.
A new accessible lobby affords access to the facility through a repurposed retail space. Gallery space for the display of artwork is woven throughout the building, and a dual-function coffee bar is designed to serve as a concession for the performance area and a café for other patrons. Original second floor office spaces will be repurposed to accommodate art and music classrooms, as well as small lectures and film screenings. A new dance studio is designed as part of a new second floor structure within the volume of the original auditorium area. New restrooms and elevator access serve all floors. New fenestration is proposed to enliven lobby spaces and provide a visual connection between pedestrian and patron zones.
