Fox Theatre (Fullerton, California)

Last updated

Fox Fullerton Theatre
Fullerton fox theatre.JPG
Street view of Fullerton Fox Theatre
Fox Theatre (Fullerton, California)
Address510 N. Harbor Boulevard
Fullerton, California
United States
Public transit Orange County Line
TypeMovie palace
Capacity 900
Opened1925
Closed1987
Website
Fox Fullerton Theatre Complex
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationFullerton
Coordinates 33°52′28″N117°55′26″W / 33.87444°N 117.92389°W / 33.87444; -117.92389
Built1925
Architect Raymond M. Kennedy
Architectural style Italian Renaissance
NRHP reference No. 06000948
Added to NRHPOctober 25, 2006

Fox Theatre is a historic movie theater located on Harbor Boulevard in Fullerton, California. Built in 1925 as part of the chain of Fox Theatres, the theater was closed and abandoned in 1987. The Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation is currently in the process of fundraising and restoring the theater.

Contents

Constructed by prominent local businessman C. Stanley Chapman, the building was designed as a combination of vaudeville and silent movie house flanked by a one-story retail wing, two-story café, and an having an Italian Renaissance theme. The original lines of this building are now obscured by the many later renovations and additions, including the subsequent construction of the building at the northeast corner of Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue. [1]

History

Constructed in 1924-25 by active local businessman C. Stanley Chapman, son of Fullerton's first mayor Charles Chapman, the mixed-use building was designed to function as a combination vaudeville/silent movies house flanked by a one-story retail wing and a two-story café. It was named Chapman's Alician Court Theatre after the builder's wife Alice Ellen, but as ownership changed so did the name of the theater, and it was variously known as the Mission Court Theatre, Universal Mission Court Theatre, Fox Mission Theatre and finally the Fox Theatre. The theater's first manager was C. Stanley Chapman's father-in-law Harry Lee Wilber, who left another of Fullerton's picture theaters, the nearby Rialto at 219 North Harbor Boulevard, to operate the Fox. The theater was originally located at 500 North Spadra (now Harbor) Boulevard. In 1929, an L-shaped commercial structure on an adjacent lot was added to the south side of the building. [2] At various times over the years addresses changed, and the Fox is now situated at 510-512 North Harbor Boulevard. The theater's architect was Raymond M. Kennedy of the firm Meyer & Holler. [3] Meyer and Holler completed the theatre in 1925. Although they built hundreds of structures, it was primarily their 1920s Hollywood buildings that established Meyer and Holler's fame; buildings such as Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Athletic Club, and the Café Montmartre. Having also built many of Hollywood's major film studios, it can be said that Meyer and Holler may have been the firm most responsible for giving architectural form to the early entertainment industry in Southern California. The Fox Fullerton remains the firm's major architectural contribution to Orange County. [4]

When it opened, the Italian Renaissance-inspired Theatre was the show place of Orange County, a movie palace representing the height of Hollywood glamour and sophistication. It was the largest structure of its kind in northern Orange County, and was an integral element in the social fabric of downtown life, where people gathered for news, entertainment, and socializing. In addition to its shows, the Alician Court offered a unique atmosphere – from its courtyard “lobby” to its lavish interior. The open courtyard was an innovation in theatre design that took advantage of outdoor spaces and their visibility to the street, creating a sense of excitement as passers-by witnessed large crowds gathering for a show or premiere. The original theater complex included a tea room run by Alice Chapman, but the space was later leased as a separate restaurant. The restaurant has since moved, and the tea room will be reincorporated into the theater when it reopens. [5]

Another special feature of the theatre is six large murals created by Anthony Heinsbergen and Company, one of the foremost building decor firms of the era. The firm's work includes art at Los Angeles City Hall, the Biltmore Hotel, and the Wiltern Theatre. (Fullerton is becoming known as a destination for mural art due to its unique historic and contemporary mural works. When restored, the Fox murals will pre-date all others in the city.) The decorative painter for the theatre was John Gabriel Beckman, who was then working for Meyer and Holler. He was responsible for the elaborate artwork in both the main and mezzanine lobbies, and the design for the original curtains. He went on to design the extensive mural work at the Avalon Casino, and later became a set designer for Paramount Pictures. The original murals were painted over in the 1950s during the building's first refurbishment. The proscenium, on the other hand, remains intact. [6]

After a showing of Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke, the theatre closed in 1987. It was scheduled to be demolished in 2004 to make way for a five-story apartment building, but was saved by the Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation (FHTF), which was formed in 2001 to acquire and restore the theater. Since then, it has become an official landmark of the City of Fullerton. In 2005 the city of Fullerton began to show movies in the rear parking lot to raise funds for the restoration, projecting the film onto the outer wall of the theater, and in 2006 Los Angeles magazine named it as one of LA's strangest places to see films. [7] The Fox Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in October 2006.

Restoration

The Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation is currently restoring the building. [8] In 2007, the theater received nearly $2 million in grant money from the state of California. The tentative date for completion of the restoration work was originally scheduled for 2010. [9] According to many members of the foundation in 2013, the theatre was expected to reopen in somewhere between 3 and 5 years' time. [10] During the theatre's construction, the courtyard has opened two restaurants: a coffeehouse and a German restaurant. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fullerton, California</span> City in California, United States

Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Egyptian Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, also known as Egyptian Hollywood and the Egyptian, is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the world's first film premiere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Chinese Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles

The TCL Chinese Theatre, commonly referred to as Grauman's Chinese Theatre, is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovation Hollywood</span> Shopping mall in Hollywood, Los Angeles

Ovation Hollywood is a shopping center and entertainment complex at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Capitan Theatre</span> Cinema in Hollywood

El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple are owned by The Walt Disney Company and serve as the venue for a majority of the Walt Disney Studios' film premieres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre</span> Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, 155-foot (47 m) Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a blue-green glazed architectural terra-cotta tile and situated diagonal to the street corner, the complex is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. The Wiltern building is owned privately, and the Wiltern Theatre is operated by Live Nation's Los Angeles division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Theatre</span> United States historic place

The Alex Theatre is a landmark located at 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California, United States. It is currently owned by the city of Glendale and operated by SAS. The theater's capacity is 1,400.

The Long Beach Museum of Art is a museum located on Ocean Boulevard in the Bluff Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond M. Kennedy</span>

Raymond McCormick Kennedy (1891–1976) was the guiding light and architect of the Grauman's Chinese Theater that opened in May 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Theatre</span> Type of cinema

Egyptian-style theatres are based on the traditional and historic design elements of Ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Pantages Theatre</span> Theater and movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre and Fox-Pantages Theatre, also known as The Pantages, is a live theater and former movie theater located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, near Hollywood and Vine, in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, the theater was the last built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages and also the last movie palace built in Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harbor Boulevard</span> North–south road corridor in the counties of Los Angeles and Orange

Harbor Boulevard is a north–south road corridor in the counties of Los Angeles and Orange. One of the busiest routes in Orange County, the thoroughfare passes through some of the most densely populated areas in the region and carries about 8 percent of the county's bus riders. The route provides access for local residents to travel to work and for drivers travelling from Valley Boulevard in the City of Industry via Fullerton Road to Newport Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Gate Theater</span> United States historic place

Golden Gate Theater is a former California Churrigueresque-style movie palace built in 1927 on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, California. In 1982, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The theater closed in 1986; the retail building built around it was damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake and demolished in 1992. The remaining theater building was left vacant for more than 20 years as preservationists fought with owners and developers over the future of the building. It was finally converted into a CVS Pharmacy and reopened in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Theater District (Los Angeles)</span> United States historic place

The Broadway Theater District in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States. The same six-block stretch of Broadway, and an adjacent section of Seventh Street, was also the city's retail hub for the first half of the twentieth century, lined with large and small department stores and specialty stores.

Meyer & Holler was an architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, noted for its opulent commercial buildings and movie theatres, including Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian theatres, built during the 1920s. Meyer & Holler was also known as The Milwaukee Building Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Café Montmartre</span> Restaurant and nightclub in Hollywood, California

Café Montmartre was a restaurant and nightclub on Hollywood Boulevard at Highland Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US. Opened in 1923, it became a "worldwide center for celebrity and nightlife" during the 1920s and a place where tourists would visit to try to break into Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Carroll Theatre (Los Angeles)</span> Former theater and TV studio in Hollywood, California

The Earl Carroll Theatre was a historic stage facility located at 6230 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built by showman Earl Carroll and designed in the Streamline Moderne style by architect Gordon Kaufmann in 1938. The theatre has been known by a number of names since, including Moulin Rouge from 1953 to 1964 and the Aquarius Theater in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1997 to 2017, it was officially known as Nickelodeon on Sunset, housing the West Coast production of live-action original series produced for the Nickelodeon cable channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Theatre (Visalia, California)</span>

The Visalia Fox Theatre is a landmark movie palace and theater in downtown Visalia, California. Opened in 1930 as a part of the Fox Theatre chain, it was converted to a three screen multiplex in 1976. After a brief closure in the late 1990s, it was restored by a community group and reopened in 1999 as a live performance auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,275.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petersen Building</span> Building in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Petersen Building is a historic two-story building at 7001 W. Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

References

  1. "City of Fullerton - Fox Theater Complex". Archived from the original on May 23, 2008.
  2. "Fox Theatre FAQs". Fullerton Heritage. May 21, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  3. "History of the Fox Fullerton". Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007.
  4. "History of the Fox Theatre". Fox Theatre.com. July 15, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  5. "Fox Fullerton Theatre". After the Curtain Fall. May 9, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  6. "A Brief History of the Fox Theatre". Fox Theatre.com. July 15, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  7. Brittany McLaren (January 2006). "Film forums: across L.A., feature presentations in the strangest places". Los Angeles Magazine.
  8. Ponsi, Lou (February 8, 2015). "Fox Theatre restoration gets detailed". The Orange County Register . p. Local 13.
  9. Eric Carpenter (April 27, 2007). "Live music returns to Fox Fullerton Theatre". Orange County Register.
  10. BEVI EDLUND (March 27, 2013). "Fullerton Fox Theatre: Curtain may rise in 3 to 5 years". The Daily Titan. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  11. Ponsi, Lou (February 24, 2016). "Dripp coffee bar brings life to Fullerton's historic Fox Theatre". The Orange County Register . Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  12. Goei, Edwin (August 31, 2016). "Stadtgarten Honest-to-Goodness Biergarten Brings Gemütlichkeit to Fullerton". OC Weekly . Retrieved November 19, 2016.