Fox Theater (Spokane, Washington)

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For other uses, see Fox Theatre (disambiguation).
Fox Theater
Fox Theater Spokane.JPG
The newly renovated Fox Theater in 2007
Full nameMartin Woldson Theater at the FOX
Address1001 W. Sprague Ave.
Spokane, Washington
Coordinates47°39′25″N 117°25′36″W / 47.65694°N 117.42667°W / 47.65694; -117.42667Coordinates: 47°39′25″N 117°25′36″W / 47.65694°N 117.42667°W / 47.65694; -117.42667
Public transitSpokane Transit Authority
Bus: Routes: 6,20,43,60,61,66[1]
OwnerSpokane Symphony
OperatorSpokane Symphony
TypeTheatre
Genre(s)Concerts, movies, theatre
Capacity1,715
Construction
OpenedSeptember 3, 1931; 90 years ago (1931-09-03)
RenovatedNovember 2007
Construction cost
  • US$1 million (1931)
  • US$31 million (2007)
ArchitectRobert C. Reamer
Tenants
Spokane Symphony
Website
www.foxtheaterspokane.com
Built1931
ArchitectRobert C. Reamer
Architectural styleArt Deco
MPSMovie Theaters in Washington State MPS
NRHP reference No.01001287
Added to NRHPNovember 30, 2001

The Fox Theater in Spokane, Washington is a 1931 Art Deco movie theater that now serves as a performing arts venue and home of the Spokane Symphony. It was designed by architect Robert C. Reamer, notable for his design of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. It was part of the Fox Film Corporation Empire founded by studio mogul William Fox. The theater opened September 3, 1931 and showed films continuously until it closed September 21, 2000 after an engagement of the movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe.

History[]

Fox Theater marquee

Planning and construction[]

In 1927 rumors began circulating that William Fox's expanding Fox Film Corporation was to build a large "million dollar movie palace" in downtown Spokane.[2][3] The Spokesman-Review published an initial depictions of the theater, which was in a Mediterranean Revival architectural style.[3] However, the project was delayed due to the financial difficulties of Fox Film Corporation following the 1929 stock market crash and the companies subsequent reorganization as Fox West Coast Studios.[2] Construction started in early 1930 and employed 200 people.[3] The Art Deco building was designed by architect Robert Reamer, notable for his design of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, with Whitehouse & Price brought on as associate architects and Anthony Heinsbergen designing the interior of the theater.[2][4][5] Heinsbergen's decorations and appointments were a fusion of the rectangular angles associated with the Art Deco movement and the classical flowing style of Art Nouveau.[6] The Spokane Fox theaters motif is derived from a Hollywood interpretation of art deco, which was a synthesis of the modernist and art nouveau movements of Europe in the late 1800s.[7][6] The centerpiece of the theaters interior was a 60-foot (18 m) wide light fixture made of etched glass and plaster in the shape of a sunburst.[2][8] The building was outfitted with modern amenities for the time such as air conditioning and the cost of construction was publicized as US$1,000,000 (equivalent to $17,000,000 in 2020).[2]

Grand opening and first decades[]

The Fox Theater opened with seating for 2,350 patrons (1,450 on the ground floor and 900 in the balcony)[8] on September 3, 1931. Anita Page, Mitzi Green, George O'Brien, Victor McLaglen and El Brendel attended the opening performance gala.[9][10] A crowd of onlookers estimated to be as much as 20,000 people crowded the streets outside the theater to see a free of charge outside show and catch a glimpse of the celebrities in attendance as they were escorted from the Davenport Hotel.[2][8] The public was surprised at the sight of the buildings sleek modern art deco exterior, which was in stark contrast to the Italianate renderings that were shown in the Spokesman-Review.[3] The interior decorations were singled out for praise in contemporary newspaper accounts.[11] Wilbur Hindley at the Spokesman-Review commented that the design was "so unusual, so bizarre and so futuristic that the casual passerby catches his breath in surprise and wonder;" the design utilized aluminum and glass as opposed to the traditional marble and wood in the interior décor, which included embellishments like hand painted murals of undersea plants and etched glass light panels.[8][12]

The Fox opened with a live production of 's About Town variety show [13] followed by the film Merely Mary Ann.[14] Ticket holders also got to see acts by Laurel and Hardy and a performance by the Fox Theater Orchestra.[2] This mix of alternating traditional vaudeville style live entertainment and trendy Hollywood talkies was part of the theaters long term business strategy and reflected the evolving tastes of the public.[2] Movies had become a low cost escape from the challenges of the Great Depression.[7][3] The Fox would be the primary performing arts venue in Spokane for its first three decades.[2]

Multiplex and Decline[]

In May 1961, the Fox Theater sold its theatre organ to a Los Angeles-area collector, who disassembled it and had it shipped to California, the process of dismantling the organ took approximately one week.[15] The Fox Theater subdivided its main screen and opened as a three-screen complex (with one main screen downstairs and two balcony screens upstairs) on 14 November 1975.[9][16] In 1989, the theater began showing second-run movies[17] at US$1 (equivalent to $2 in 2020) per ticket.[18] When Regal Cinemas built the new 12-screen megaplex at NorthTown Mall, it sold half of its eight Spokane theaters,[19] including the Fox. The final movie, a screening of Gladiator, was shown on 21 September 2000, and a small ceremony before the showing marked the sale of the theater to the Spokane Symphony, where representatives of Regal Cinemas and the Spokane Symphony exchanged a symbolic $1.3 million check for the keys to the theater.[17]

Fundraising and restoration[]

The art deco interior designed by Anthony Heinsbergen

The adjacent Spokane Club sought to purchase and demolish the building to build a parking garage.[20] Although the club had entered into negotiations with the then-owners, Regal Cinemas, the Club dropped its plans to purchase the theater when they learned the Spokane Symphony was interested in the site.[21] The theater was saved when the Spokane Symphony purchased it[22] for US$1.1 million in June 2000.[23] Once the Symphony determined whether the renovations were feasible and the funds could be raised,[24] it began an extensive fund raising campaign to raise the budget needed for restoration.[25] Part of the funds were raised from state sources.[26] Prominent architectural features were renamed in honor of significant donors.[27]

The restoration designer was NAC Architecture of Spokane and the contractor on the project was Walker Construction.[7] Restorers catalogued, cleaned, painted, and re-created lost architectural details and lighting fixtures.[7][28][29][30] They also removed partitions installed in 1975 which converted the theatre into a multiplex. They reduced the original 2,300 seats to 1,700.[2] The Wurlitzer 3-manual, 13-rank theatre organ installed when the building was constructed in 1931 was removed in 1961.[20]

The total cost of the renovations was $31 million and it was completed in November 2007.[31] The theatre was renamed the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox in honor of the father of a donor who contributed $3 million towards the renovations.[32] It re-opened as the home of the Spokane Symphony on November 17, 2007,[31] presided over by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.[33] The re-opening included a special celebration featuring a performance by Tony Bennett on November 19, 2007.[34][35] The meticulous restoration was documented in the KSPS-TV film "Spokane's 21st Century Fox".

Notable performances[]

Notable performances at the theatre include: Katharine Hepburn, in As You Like It, as well as Marian Anderson, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra.[34] Michelle Obama, wife of the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama held a rally campaigning for her husband's presidential campaign on February 8, 2008.[36]

References[]

  1. ^ "STA System Map" (PDF). Spokane Transit Authority. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jim Kershner (July 2, 2008). "Fox Theatre (Spokane)". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  3. ^ a b c d e Harbine, Anna. "The Fox Theater". Spokane Historical. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  4. ^ "Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox in Spokane, WA - Cinema Treasures".
  5. ^ "Artistic Work on Fox Theater". The Spokesman-Review. 17 August 1931. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b Prager, Mike (October 29, 2017). "From a $2,500 start, the restored Fox theater was brought back from the brink". Spokesman-Review. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Prager, Mike (21 November 2005). "Fox closes its curtains for major renovations". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d Hindley, Wilbur W. (3 September 1931). "Fox Theater Is Last Word in Beauty and Efficiency". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  9. ^ a b Eric L. Flom (February 22, 2003). "The Fox Theatre in Spokane opens on September 3, 1931". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  10. ^ ""Big Shots" of Screenland Here "in Person" Open Fox". The Spokesman-Review. 3 September 1931. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Interior Decoration Adds Beauty to New Fox Theater in Spokane". The Spokesman-Review. 16 August 1931. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  12. ^ Moltafet, Shafiq (September 3, 2021). "Spokane Symphony celebrates 90th anniversary of Fox Theater". Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  13. ^ "Fanchon & Marco's First Bill is "About Town" Idea". The Spokesman-Review. 3 September 1931. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Screen Lovers on Fox Screen". The Spokesman-Review. 3 September 1931. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Spokane Theater Organ Era Ends". The Spokesman-Review. 23 October 1961. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  16. ^ "Fox Theater opens as triplex". The Spokesman-Review. 15 November 1975. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  17. ^ a b Brunt, Jonathan (22 September 2000). "It's last picture show for the Fox". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  18. ^ Kershner, Jim (8 December 1996). "Refurbishing The Fox After Falling Into A State Of Disrepair, A Grand Old Spokane Landmark Gets Spruced Up". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  19. ^ Cannata, Amy (14 June 2000). "Curtains are closing on small theaters". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  20. ^ a b "Fox Theatre". Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society. May 2000. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  21. ^ Cannata, Amy (31 May 2000). "Club drops plan to buy Fox Theater". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  22. ^ Cannata, Amy (19 June 2000). "Spokane Symphony signs deal to buy Fox Theater". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  23. ^ Cannata, Amy (19 June 2000). "Symphony signs to buy theater". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  24. ^ Cannata, Amy (19 May 2000). "Symphony submits bid for Fox in effort to save it". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  25. ^ Cannata, Amy (20 June 2000). "Fixing the Fox". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  26. ^ Roesler, Richard (23 April 2005). "Construction budget omits WSU project". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  27. ^ Stucke, John (25 February 2007). "Board stays foxy about new name". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  28. ^ Millsap, Cheryl-Anne (8 April 2005). "Bringing back The Fox". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  29. ^ Prager, Mike (10 May 2006). "Fox is an art-deco archetype". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  30. ^ Prager, Mike (20 July 2006). "Renovating beauty". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  31. ^ a b Prager, Mike (19 October 2010). "Fox Theater restoration to be recognized nationally". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  32. ^ Prager, Mike (22 March 2007). "Fox Theater benefactor's identity revealed". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  33. ^ Craig, John (18 November 2007). "A Showplace shines". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  34. ^ a b "About Us". Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  35. ^ Kershner, Jim (11 November 2007). "Fox Line forms here". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  36. ^ Jim Camden (February 8, 2008). "Campaigns Swinging through Spokane". The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review. SpokesmanReview.com. Retrieved 2011-02-25.

External links[]

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