Crest Theatre
1160 Broadway Plaza,
Fresno,
CA
93721
1160 Broadway Plaza,
Fresno,
CA
93721
16 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 44 of 44 comments found
Here are some recent photos of the Crest Theater building. Click each photo to expand it.
This is a 03/07/1996 article about the Crest Theater:
“Old-Time Movie Theater Sold in Downtown Fresno, Calif.(Originated from The Fresno Bee, Calif.)
Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Author: Nax, Sanford
Mar. 7—The owner of the Guarantee building in downtown Fresno is buying the Crest theater next door, with the fate of the structure unclear at the moment.
Brentwood Investors, which owns the shuttered Guarantee building and has the Crest in escrow, might turn the theater into a parking structure. It also is considering renovating the theater through a joint venture with other investors who have a similar theater operation in Sacramento, said Mark Mimms, a local real estate agent who represents Brentwood Investors and manages the building.
Mimms also revealed that prospective tenants are interested in leasing the basement, first floor and top two floors of the 12-story Guarantee building, which could be reopened.
A large number of vacancies led to the building’s closure in 1994.
The Crest theater deal is one of several possible transactions that investors are pondering as downtown revitalization appears to be picking up speed.
Mimms declined to reveal the sales price, but said Brentwood Investors came into the picture through Brentwood’s relationship with movie director/actor Mel Brooks, an owner of the Crest.
Norman McMenemey, executive manager of the Fresno Revitalization Corp., said his organization prefers to have the Crest remain as a theater. An investor group which operates a theater of the same design and name in Sacramento has toured the Fresno Crest with the thought of renovating it, and possibly could work out a joint venture with Brentwood Investors.
McMenemey said a renovated Crest, which sits at an entry point to downtown from Freeway 99, would fit in with other development propoals swirling around downtown. Among them: the Revitalization Corporation’s attempt to find a developer for six acres at Broadway and Fresno streets, across from the Crest.
The corporation’s request for development proposals for the six-acre site resulted in a visit this week from a Los Angeles-based developer who has built several shopping centers in Southern California. He met with city officials and toured the property. “He was very impressed with downtown and with what we had to offer,” said Arthur Morgan, executive director of the Revitalization Corporation. Morgan doesn’t know if the visit will lead to a development.
Built in 1949 by Fox West Coast Theaters, the Crest is the last of the big-time movie houses in downtown Fresno. This is not the first time that the possibility of putting a parking structure in its place has come up. As far back as 1980, city officials discussed the possibility of razing the building to make way for a parking garage.
Mimms said the owner of the Guarantee building thinks he must provide adequate parking and security to lure tenants, and is exploring all options, including providing valet parking.
Going inside the 1,200-seat Crest is like a trip back in time. Its giltwork is three-dimensional and the ceiling, though faded, was a midnight blue.
“It is like going back to Hollywood in the ‘40s,” said Jim Huebner, a Pearson Realty agent who represented an investor who was interested in renovating it into a pizza pub and classic-movie theater. But the deal fell through because buyer and seller couldn’t agree on a price, Huebner said.
The Crest is only one project that the Revitalization Corp. is pursuing. At a Revitalization Corp. meeting Wednesday, a consultant to the corporation, Al Aguiar, said a Sacramento-area developer is scouting possible sites for a small, but upscale downtown hotel.
Aguiar, a former Macy’s official with strong networks in the retail industry, also has been trying to recruit a brewpub to the area. He also said that some of the same businesses who were among the first investors in San Jose’s redeveloped downtown have been checking out Fresno.
It remains to be seen if the developments occur, but Revitalization Corporation officials and downtown activists are encouraged by the activity".
Although I live on the East Coast in Virginia and have never seen this theater or have been to the West Coast of California for that matter I think this theater should be fully restorated for either live performances or the “Art House Movie Circuit”. I do agree that theaters like this cannot compete with the digitally enhanced Multiplexes of today but for those seeking an alternative and looking for an escape into something different, this theater and those like it can be great once again.
This great theatre is now open for “Bali-wood” presentations. The local media thus far has paid no attention to it. I think it’s kinda cool!
Here is a recent photo of the Crest Theater.
The Crest’s auditorium was very similar to Fox Theatre in Inglewood, Ca and the Crest Theatre in Sacramento.
The Crest Theatre opened on July 7th. 1949 and was operated by Fox West Coast Theatres.
This is a photo of the Crest theater marquee and sign.
Dowser and Douglas,
I am currently working on a number of projects in Downtown Fresno, the Crest especially.
Please let me know how we can pool our talents.
Matthew
Dowser,
You might want to contact the non profit “Fresno Filmworks” group , who presently showcase one indi/art film per month at the TOWER theatre.They are looking for a permanent home.I’d be willing to help out with miscl tasks. I live right down the street. Always thought it was a perfect size venue to attract some national touring music acts too,to help make end$ meet.
Looking for any additional Info on this faded beauty!! The church has left and the place is up for rent! I went up to Fresno to check this house out and I guess you can say it was love at first site!I would like to see if maybe it could re-open as a art/indy/classic film venue, as it appears downtown plans for re-development are going to move forward.I was involved for eight years on the restoration of the Fox Theater, Bakersfield. Serving in a offical capacity as Front of House Mgr.I miss the satisfaction of breathing life into a project and would very much like to restore a theater again! I would appreciate any feedback on anything from how best to
set up an independent operation, to people living in the Fresno area who’s feedback on this idea would be much appreciated. Of course any
of you theater “nuts” wanting to comment you are most welcome!
This is the movie palace where I saw most of the 1950s and 1960s movies from 20th Century-Fox. I always loved escaping the grueling Fresno summer heat in this Cooled by Refrigeration oasis.
Occasionally the Crest deviated from its A-list Fox films to show an exploitation epic. I remember when “Damaged Goods” played here many years ago. But mostly, I remember cuddling up to my box of hot, buttered popcorn, watching the likes of “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Call Me Madam,” “Three Coins in The Fountain,” “Bus Stop,” and scores of Cinemascopic epics here.
This theatre is one of some 200 that could be described as “Skouras-ized For Showmanship” which is the title of the ANNUAL of 1987 of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America. In the late 1930s through the 1950s, there occurred on the west coast of the United States a phenomenon known as the ‘Skouras style’ in recognition of the oversight of the Skouras brothers in their management of several cinema chains. They employed a designer by the name of Carl G. Moeller to render their cinemas/theatres in a new style best described as ‘Art Moderne meets Streamlined.’ The then new availability of aluminum sheeting at low cost was the principal material difference to this style allowing for sweeping, 3-dimensional shapes of scrolls to adorn walls and facades in an expression that would have been much more expensive and not at all the same in plaster. With the use of hand tinted and etched aluminum forms, the designers could make ornaments in mass production that allowed much greater economies of scale. The ANNUAL also show in its 44 pages how some 20 theatres were good examples of this combining of aluminum forms with sweeping draperies heavily hung with large tassels, and with box offices and facades richly treated with neon within the aluminum forms. Few of these examples survive today, but it was a glorious era while it lasted, and this collection of crisp b/w photos is a fitting epitaph by the late Preston Kaufmann.
PHOTOS AVAILABLE:
To obtain any available Back Issue of either “Marquee” or of its ANNUALS, simply go to the web site of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA at:
www.HistoricTheatres.org
and notice on their first page the link “PUBLICATIONS: Back Issues List” and click on that and you will be taken to their listing where they also give ordering details. The “Marquee” magazine is 8-1/2x11 inches tall (‘portrait’) format, and the ANNUALS are also soft cover in the same size, but in the long (‘landscape’) format, and are anywhere from 26 to 44 pages. Should they indicate that a publication is Out Of Print, then it may still be possible to view it via Inter-Library Loan where you go to the librarian at any public or school library and ask them to locate which library has the item by using the Union List of Serials, and your library can then ask the other library to lend it to them for you to read or photocopy. [Photocopies of most THSA publications are available from University Microforms International (UMI), but their prices are exorbitant.]
Note: Most any photo in any of their publications may be had in large size by purchase; see their ARCHIVE link. You should realize that there was no color still photography in the 1920s, so few theatres were seen in color at that time except by means of hand tinted renderings or post cards, thus all the antique photos from the Society will be in black and white, but it is quite possible that the Society has later color images available; it is best to inquire of them.
Should you not be able to contact them via their web site, you may also contact their Executive Director via E-mail at:
Or you may reach them via phone or snail mail at:
Theatre Historical Soc. of America
152 N. York, 2nd Floor York Theatre Bldg.
Elmhurst, ILL. 60126-2806 (they are about 15 miles west of Chicago)
Phone: 630-782-1800 or via FAX at: 630-782-1802 (Monday through Friday, 9AM—4PM, CT)
My first sentence should have read I really DON’T see that as feasible.
I really see that as feasible since right down the street is the much large Warnor that is a live venue. The Church that occupies the Crest has done a wonderful job at restoring the threatre.Better off leaving it as it is.
Michael, in this day of age single screen theatres cannot survive. This is the age of the multiplex, so if an old movie palace can survive and hang on as a church more power to them.
As a lot of other theatres of the Golden Age being turned into a church, it is better to do so than demolish them.
The Fox Crest Theatre is located at 1170 Broadway and it once seated 1284 people.
Though I don’t know who was the architect from the structural standpoint, this theatre was one of many which were conceptualized on the drawing boards of Carl G. Moeller, during the tenure of Charles P. Skouras at Fox West Coast Theatres. A couple of similar examples of such Skouras-era neon extravagance are the Crest in Sacramento (operating), and the Fox Belmont, Long Beach (standing but converted to a health club/gym).