Pomona's Fox Theater reopens tonight with a silver lining

From the color schemes to the custom-milled carpeting, attention has been given to all details to ensure the building looks much the way it did when it first opened and began screening the latest first-run Hollywood movies.

Preservationists couldn't be more excited about the restoration and renovation of the Fox, a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"The building is great. It's exciting to see this lady dust off herself," said Deborah Clifford, president of Pomona Heritage. "This is a beautiful old lady who is going to be allowed to shine."

Mickey Gallivan, president of the Historical Society of Pomona Valley, said she has had a couple opportunities to see the interior of the Fox.

"It's just unbelievable how well it's turning out -- the murals, the columns, the chandeliers," she said.

The Fox, which will celebrate the 78th anniversary of its original opening April 24, was a successful movie palace where special previews of upcoming films would be screened and where big-name performers would offer live shows for audiences.

After decades of entertaining audiences, the Fox went into decline eventually becoming a home for raves before closing December 2000.

City leaders in 2001 decided to purchase the Fox with escrow closing in January 2002.

The city paid $1.1 million for the theater, but making the financial investments to restore and renovate it proved challenging.

By February 2007, the four-man partnership came together to purchase the Fox from the city for $1.6 million.

Part of the cost will be paid for with revenue generated by the theater.

The city, as part of an agreement between the partnership and the redevelopment agency, will pay $201,466 to use the facility 24 days annually for city or community events.

Such payments will be made for 30 years with the exception of an 11-year period beginning in 2017. The $1.15 million that would have been paid then has gone toward the purchase of the theater's state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment.

Besides the city assistance, the partnership used private financing along with $5 million worth of federal historic renovation and new market tax credits to complete the $10 million project.

A few things are still needed, such as reconstructing the ticket booth once stationed outside the building, but even without it much has been done to the Fox during this first phase.

"We're doing more than we set out to do initially," Tessier said.

Murals and detail work once painted over with a garish green paint by a previous owner have been reproduced.

Chandeliers and other light fixtures were reproduced with the help of photographs.

"Luckily we had photos of the interior, some from the Pomona Public Library," Tessier said.

A modern sound system is in place and so are new stage curtains.

The balcony section has 550 newly re-built and re-upholstered seats reconstructed using parts of the the seats, which varied from 17 inches to 21 inches in width, Tessier said.
The seats are now no smaller than 20 inches.

On the lower level, guests will find a multi-use area that includes a 3,000-square-foot dance floor.

It is this area that can go from concert hall, to banquet hall, to lecture call.

Tessier, like others, sees parallels between the economic environment of 1931 and today.

The Fox project started in a strong economic environment and is coming to completion in a considerably weaker one, much the way it did when it first opened, he said.

"I remember reading in newspaper accounts the reason there was so much silver (in the decoration of the theater) was because designers saw it as a silver lining in the Depression," Tessier said.

Even in times like these, the Fox is something people will enjoy.

"It's a feel-good project," Tessier said.

It will offer entertainment options -- such as big name rock performers -- that currently require people to drive to Los Angeles or Orange County to enjoy.

"There are not many concerts of the caliber we're bringing," Tessier said. "Hopefully, we will fill some of that nitch."

Those in the preservationist community see the Fox as an example of what can happen to a historic building with time and care.

Efforts to preserve the Fox came up several times over the years, Gallivan said, but they never took off.

Although the city has lost other historically significant buildings, the Fox remained and people of diverse backgrounds have always advocated for its restoration, she said.

"The spirit of the city was behind it," Gallivan said.

The affection for the Fox and for its protection says something.

"I think it says we have a lot of commitment to historic preservation," Gallivan said.

The Fox, along with the Vault building on West Second Street, are anchors of downtown, said Clifford, and the theater will be an example to others.

"It says to downtown, 'This is what you can do,'" she said.