KINEMA THEATER    272 South Main Street    Opened: 1920    Closed: 1927

The Kinema Theater located in the Clift Building, on the northwest corner of Main Street and 3rd South, opened in February of 1920.

While the new theater is practically built where the previous Mehesy Theatre was, many new changes and improvements were made. After the Mehesy Theatre closed, the former manager moved to Pasadena, California and opened up another theater in the basement of an apartment building that he was managing.

One of the new features at the Kinema Theater was the installation of an observation operating projection room, which allowed patrons to view the projectors showing the film from behind glass in the lobby. This was the first of its kind to be found in a theater of Salt Lake City. In the lobby hung gold framed oil paintings of famous motion picture stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Harry Carey, Dorthy Philipps, and Alla Nazimova.

The Kinema Theater had a seating capacity of 1000.

In 1927 the Kinema Theater closed and became the Rialto Theater.