Fox Performing Arts Center
3801 Mission Inn Avenue,
Riverside,
CA
92501
3801 Mission Inn Avenue,
Riverside,
CA
92501
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The opening date for the theater has been pushed back to January 11, 2010, the anniversary of the grand opening gala in 1929. I understand that the “Preview” sign was pulled off the tower facade a few months back and unceremoniously thrown to the ground, where it shattered. There is a movement to see if the city will have another one made, but I don’t know who is involved, or whether there will be a response. The theater itself is changing dramatically, and scaffolding near the stage has already been removed, while the scaffolding allowing workmen to repaint the ceiling will most likely come down within a couple of weeks. You can see some photos from my book project by going to my website at www.mjeldermanphoto.ifp3.com and scrolling down the “Gallery” to Riverside Fox (there are also some photos from documentation of the Pomona Fox here).
Anyone who has artifacts, photos or any other information about the Fox, including interesting stories of your memories or experiences there — please send me your stories, info, and photos via e-mail, or to me at P. O. Box 55435, Riverside, CA 92517. —Michael J. Elderman
Mike, I’ll send you a separate email since I know you!! I’m so glad you are documenting the theatre. Count me in for one of your books!! As I know from my wedding photos, you are one great photographer!
I AM planning a book, to be published at about the time the Fox has its grand reopening, probably about September-October, 2009. It will be primarily artistic photos made using light, shadow, color, geometry, but it will also have more literal documentation particularly of the features people associate with the theater — the grand staircase going up from the lobby, the two curved stairway facades at left and right front of the theater, the tower, the “preview” sign (which I think will return when the theater is finished). It will be a hardcover coffee table style book. Anyone who has historic information about the uses of the theater over the years is invited to send me the information at If you would like to receive e-mailed information on how to purchase the book for yourself or your company, please let me know. This is such an exciting project and the changes in the theater inside are already spectacular. Submitted by MJ Elderman
National General Theatres the parent company for Fox West Coast Theatres started selling some pipe organs during the late 50’s though the 60’s. from their theatres. Some of the ones that did last till the sale to Mann Theatres were sold by Mann Theatres in the mid 70’s. time frame before Mann Theatres sold the houses.
Monika, Corinne and William, this is interesting information! So since the Preview sign obviously wasn’t there originally (like the first photo above shows), when was it put in—and was it there by the showing of the GWTW preview?
Also, we still need info relative to the pipe organ and when it was taken out.
Thanks so much for all of your help.
Preview signs were not original features to theatres. They were added once the studio liked the location for those out of town previews. Out of town previews started happening during the mid 30’s. Most theatres had banners to hang under marquees for those previews, but theatres that the studios liked. Installed those neon preview signs on the facades of the building or on the vertical signs of the theatres. The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, CA and the Fox Theatre in Inglewood, CA had them installed that way. Many popular preview houses had sound dummies installed in their booths since the films were still picture and track format.
In fact, the photo at the top of this page does not have the “preview ” sign in it.
I do not believe that the “preview” sign was there originally. I recall seeing an old photograph without it. Let me see if I can find that photo and I’ll get back to you.
Thanks, Corinne, we haven’t had much luck with the City yet, that’s why I was asking here. I know Mike Elderman (he did my wedding photos!), and I’ll ask him, but I doubt if he knows the history of the Preview sign and the organ. So I’d still appreciate any “memories” from other people!
You may want to consult Historic Preservation with the Riverside City Planning Department. Call 951-826-5371 and ask for Erin Gettis. She’ll probably be able to answer your questions!
By the way, photographer Michael Elderman is documenting the restoration with beautiful photographs. I think he’s putting together his collection for a book. You can see his work at his studio: Division 9 Gallery on Lemon St, downtown Riverside.
I am doing some research on the Fox Theatre and have some questions for anyone who might have a long memory:
The Preview sign has been trashed as part of the city’s ongoing “restoration/rehabilitation.” WAS IT THERE IN 1939?
Thanks, anyone, for your help. What a great website!
There is no indication that a film cannot be shown after the restoration. It can be done if a party has interest in showing a cinema production, especially with today’s technology in digital cinematography where large projector rooms are no longer necessary.
If such equipment would be purchased along with the other technology goodies needed for stage production is beyond me, though lobbying for a digital cinema projector (if it’s not on the shopping list already) may not be a bad idea.
Something to possibly look into?
The option of showing films, though, like so many other theatres-turned-performing-arts places have done, would have been nice for the Fox. Hard to do with no projection booth.
I don’t think it would hold as a modern day movie theatre with just one screen. Even the multiplex Market Place Theatre (by the Metrolink station) had to shut it’s doors (don’t know what going there now). With the performing arts departments of both UC Riverside and Riverside City College expanding, the opportunity to change the Fox into a performing arts centre may be the only chance of this place seeing any life. And besides, if promises of this place becoming a world-class theatre are met, we may just see Performance Riverside (staging company currently housed at RCC’s Landis Auditorium) and possibly The Riverside Philharmonic make a move to the Fox.
My Opinion, of course.
TimBuck, it was not a live theater in the past. Like you and Rootmedia mentioned, the mark is definitely being missed here. Good luck to them attempting to make a successful live theater venue, I am skeptical but look forward to see if I am proven wrong.
Linda21, that is great! My husband has taken some photos of the work as well, he drives a cement mixer and has gotten a chance to pour there a few times so far.Hopefully you’ll be able to share your friend’s photos with us!
Here’s a “behind the scenes” update from the Riverside Outlook’s May/June issue:
“It’s calm on the outside, but inside the Fox Theater there’s a huge unseen construction effort to restore the historic theater while transforming it into a state-of-the-art performing arts center.
The 18-month construction period began in May 2007.
The most pbvious change is the new rear wall of the stage house. Large buttresses now support the sidewalls. At ground level, all concrete flooring of the back stage area is gone and the new stage house foundations are installed.
Along Market Street and Mission Inn Avenue, the concrete floors and dividing walls of the storefront shop area have been removed, leaving only exposed dirt floors and concrete encased steel supporting beams. The Market Street storefronts will be consolidated into a theater lobby with a concession lounge area.
On Mission Inn Avenue, hte space will become performer dressing rooms, a backstage support area and a ticket office. The space above the old storefront shop areas will accommodate additional dressing rooms, wardrobe and flex space for community meeting.
Within the auditorium, renovation efforts have gone into full swing. The concrete wall between the auditorium and the backstage area has been removed. All theater seats have been taken out and the tops of all the concrete air tunnels have been demolished to enlarge the air conditioning capability. Finally, the balcony projection booth has been removed [pardon me for a second…. gasp!!!!] to provide space for additional theater seats and to create space for a new center spotlight.
Scaffolding will soon fill the entire auditorium. The Theater’s interior walls and ceiling will be cleaned and repainted to resemble the original designs and colors unique to the Riverside Fox Theater.
The exterior of the Fox will remain as Riversiders remember it, with only subtle change in the heating and cooling ducts and new roofing.
For more information, log onto http://www.riversiderenaissance.org
during the constrution of the fox theater in riverside, my friend is on the crew rebuilding the theater and will be taking photos of the history making of riverside ca.
When that picture was taken the theatre was part of Mann Theatres chain. During the 60’s National General Theatres re-marqueed many of their theatres. In the picture those two black circles once had the letters NG in them. You can se the old neon preview signage above the marquee too.
Wow!, I went and saw Oh God! there!!
Amazing to see that pic
Here is a photo, circa 1970s:
http://tinyurl.com/34jkbc
It takes passion for something to get a project like this right. Looks like they may have missed the mark on this one unless the Fox was a live theatre before it was a movie theatre.
After the City of Riverside took over the Fox Theater and under Dom Betro’s authority all the original theater seats were removed and a large hole was punched through the screen of the Fox Theater to get the seating out. The projectors were removed and trashed. The Fox Theater will not show movies but host live events only. The Fox Theater has been basically ransacked and nearly all historical elements were removed.
Here are a couple shots of the Fox, taken this year:
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For information and contributions to The Friends Of The Fox Theater, contact Janice Penner at the Riverside Downtown Partnership: (951)781-7339.
www.riversidedowntown.org
My family lived in Corona California in the late ‘50’s and we used to
go to the Fox because it had a lot of the best movies and was the best theater around. I liked it better than most of the Hollywood
theaters. I was 10 years old in 1958.
I remember seeing “Auntie Mame” “The Vikings” “Rio Bravo” and
“North By Northwest”. The screen was huge and the picture was always
bright.It was a great experience to see a movie there.