Pomona Fox Theater | |
Location | 114 W 3rd St. Pomona, California |
---|---|
Coordinates | 34°03′24″N117°45′02″W / 34.05663°N 117.75046°W |
Area | Los Angeles |
Built | 1931 |
Architect | Clifford A. Balch, Floyd E. Stanbery |
Architectural style | Art Deco (Hollywood Egyptian Style) |
NRHP reference No. | 82002201 |
Added to NRHP | February 19, 1982 |
The Fox Theater Pomona is a fully restored Art Deco movie palace from Hollywood's golden age in Pomona, Los Angeles County, California. Today the Fox Theater Pomona is a state-of-the-art venue for concerts, cinema, performances, and parties. It is the flagship attraction of the Pomona Arts Colony, a vibrant neighborhood of galleries, nightclubs, lofts, and restaurants. [1]
Opened on April 24, 1931, the Fox Theater Pomona operated as a first-run motion picture theater for 50 years. The classic "Hollywood Style" art deco building with its soaring tower was designed by the firm of Balch & Stanberry and was frequently used by Hollywood studios to host sneak previews of their upcoming films in order poll general audience reactions. The theater went into decline along with other large, single screen theaters in the early 1970s as a result of the increasing popularity of multiplex theaters. It survived for a few years showing Spanish language movies, then closed in 1977.
Partly as a result of citizen activism, the city of Pomona bought the building. In 2002 the non-profit Pomona Fox Corporation was founded to explore means of preserving and reusing the theater, but they were not able to secure enough funding for their restoration efforts. In February of 2007 the building was sold to its current owners, the Tessier family (who are also responsible for the creation of the Pomona Arts Colony concept and re-developers of many local buildings of historical importance) and their family-owned Gerald Investments. 10 million dollars was spent restoring the building into a beautifully revamped venue for the arts, music and film. After two years of restoration, The Fox Theater Pomona reopened on May 21, 2009, with a capacity for roughly 2,000 attendees. It has been ranked #23 in LA Weekly's top 50 Venues in LA. [2]
114 W 3rd St. Pomona, CA 91766
Pomona, California
References
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The Sunset Tower Hotel, previously known as The St. James's Club and The Argyle, is a historic building and hotel located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. Designed in 1929 by architect Leland A. Bryant, opened in 1931, it is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the Los Angeles area. In its early years, it was the residence of many Hollywood celebrities, including John Wayne and Howard Hughes. After a period of decline in the early 1980s, the building was renovated and has been operated as a luxury hotel under the names The St. James's Club, The Argyle, and most recently the Sunset Tower Hotel. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
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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.