[2][3][4] On July 29, 2016, the three cinemas, and downstairs floor, both reopened for first run movies, after successful fundraising efforts to switch from 35mm projectors to digital.

Built by architect Abram Preiskel and developer Harry Hecht above the Glen Waters pond, the building featured a marble facade, ornate proscenium, and a centerpiece chandelier, made of 62,000 Czechoslovakian crystals.

Acts such as Abbott and Costello and the Glenn Miller Orchestra performed under The Rivoli's signature chandelier, and silent movies starring Buster Keaton and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., delighted audiences.

The theater's future was in doubt, until a group of philanthropists led by Fairleigh Dickinson (namesake of the nearby university campus), Peter and Sally Sammartino, Oscar Schwidetsky, Barry Dancy, and Herb Cutter, saved the theater, and started the nonprofit Williams Center Project.

In 1987, the building was deeded to Bergen County, and a lease agreement was reached with the nonprofit group to continue operating the center.