Fox Theatre

Theater is located at 119 South Tower Ave. (the one way street heading north) in downtown Centralia.

Theater opened on Sept. 5, 1930.

It was a single screen and access to the projection booth was by ladder! In 1982, Tom Moyer Luxury Theaters chopped up the theater into a triplex by walling off the balcony and making two small auditoriums.

(Following submitted by Dave Eatwell, Economic Development Coordinator for City of Centralia) The City of Centralia, current owner of the Fox Theater on Tower Avenue, has offered the art deco anchor of the downtown for sale. The landmark has been a fixture in downtown Centralia since it opened in September of 1930.

In 1982, American General Luxury Cinemas converted building to a triple-screen facility by bisecting the balcony to form two 250-seat screening rooms and retaining the 500-seat main auditorium. The last movie was shown in 1998.

The design of the building reflects the economic atmosphere of the time of construction, somewhat austere and simple in ornamentation, yet elegant. The exterior brick of varied colors still presents angular geometric forms, accented by vertical lines. The exterior south wall is the base for one of the dozen historic murals found throughout Centralia. The high west wall of the fly space still shows the motto? The Last Word in Talking Picture Entertainment!?

Inside, the proscenium, which remains in its original form, features carving and gold-leaf overlay. Though a bit shallow for elaborate dramatic productions, the stage still has all the hardware and fly space rigging needed for live performance. Chandeliers hanging from the 35-foot high ceiling are a star-burst design with brightly colored flairs radiating from the center.

Dominating the center of the orchestra pit in front of the 24-ft. high, 30-ft. wide screen was a Balcom & Vaughan 2/10 pipe organ. Though currently dismantled and now including some parts from the Grand Theater?s Robert-Morton 2/5 and the Hoquiam Liberty Theater?s Wurlitzer 2/4, the organ awaits installation.

Technical Data on the Fox Theater Year built:1930 Original Builder:W.T. Butler Company, Seattle Original Operator:20TH Century Fox Cost of Construction:$200,000 Footprint:8040 sq.ft. Commercial space:500 sq.ft. Original Capacity:1,250 seats Current Capacity: Main auditorium: 700 seats Ceiling height:35 ft. Upper auditoriums(2): 240 seats each Performance Facilities: Main Screen:24?H x 30?W Stage:45? W x 18?D Orchestra pit:45? W Fly space: 65? H Pipe organ:Balcom & Vaughan 2/10

Mechanical Systems Heat:Gas fired furnace Electrical: 600 amps

The address for the Fox theatre is 119 South Twoer Avenue and seating capacity is 1000.

As of 3/24/04 the marquee is in terrible condition with major rusted out sections and tons of broken neeon tubing. Looks like it's ready to fall off the building.

The non-profit group, Opera Pacifica (www.operapacifica.org) has purchased the Fox Theater from the City of Centralia and is now restoring this beatiful theater. They are restoring the marquee right now and doing a great job! Major new sheet metal work, drainage, and painting have been done now. Soon the new electric wiring and new sections of neon will be installed. They've even been able to locate the original exterior poster cases and are in the process of restoring those, too. Thank you, Opera Pacifica. Two thumbs way up!

Lots of photos & history:
http://www.pstos.org/instruments/wa/centralia/fox.htm

Theater is now open occasionally for classic movies. Check out their website at www.operapacifica.org

Theater is now equipped for 16mm movies. These 16mm projectors are fully operational and ready to run.

More work has been done on the marquee. Half of the wall that split the auditorium into a multiplex is now gone! Looks like more work is going on to make this a great theater once again!

Here is some history and a few photos of the Fox Theater in Centralia.

"American General Luxury Cinemas" is the wrong name entirely for the theater company that split the theater up in 1982. It was Tom Moyer's "General American Theaters" (a.k.a. "Luxury Theatres") from Portland, Oregon that operated the theater and did the work. They were bought out in 1990 by Act 3 Theaters and in 1998, Act 3 was bought by Regal Cinemas.

Has the theater opened?

Yes the theater has opened. They just did an opera last weekend. Movies are scheduled to run on these dates: Dec 17-18, and Dec. 23-24, 2005.

Also known as Fox Liberty (?) per this 1931 newspaper article:

POPULAR PRICES AT
LIBERTY THEATRE
The re-opening of the Liberty theatre here Friday evening opens a
new era in entertainment for Centralia. The management of the
Twin City Theatres, of which the Liberty is a part, are opening the
Liberty to give Lewis county theatre patrons a family theatre with
real popular low price of twenty five cents. It is also the aim of the Liberty to play up-to-date first run pictures of high class. The Liberty will have three changes of program a week.
"Fifty Fathoms Deep", a thrilling action picture with Jack Holl will be the opening attraction and will run Friday and Saturday.
Sept. 11 and 12, with a special matinee Saturday afternoon. "Fifty
Fathoms Deep" is a Northwest premiere showing at the Liberty
Theatre.
"Fifty Million Frenchmen" is the comedy attraction Sunday
and Monday. That inimitable team of clowns, Olsen and Johnson, are
the bright spots of "Fifty Million Frenchmen" and it has a world
wide reputation as being 1931's greatest laugh picture.

Ken....The Liberty theater is not the same theater as this one. I'm not sure if the Liberty theater in Centralia, WA is listed on CT. Try doing a search for it.

I wasn't sure. They called it the Fox Liberty, but of course Fox could have had multiple theaters in the city. The Fox is the only Centralia theater listed on CT at present. Thanks for the info.

This link lists a Liberty Theater at 419 N Tower Ave. If you want to add the Liberty theater to CT, be my guest.

Yes there is (rather was) a Liberty Theatre in Centralia. It was located about 4 blocks north of the Fox Theater and was also located on Tower Ave. (also on the same side of the street as the Fox. The Liberty was a huge theater. Either the same seating capacity as the Fox or just a tad bit larger. The Liberty closed in the mid 1950's, sat vacant for a few years, then was converted into a church. That's what it is now, a church. For years the Liberty's projecting sign over the sidewalk was still there except that the church had removed the "Liberty Theater" neon and substituted "church" in neon on the sign. About two or three years ago, the church finally took that sign down totally. The name of the church is merely painted on the building now.

Perhaps the reason that these two theaters get confused is that Fox operated both theaters. I think I submitted photos to Cinematour of the Liberty a while back.

My 2003 image of the FOX.
www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/359127534

Here is another photo of the Fox Theater.

It looks like all that's being done there now is simply painting the marquee. It's been two years now and there's still no electrical work been done to the marquee nor has the neon or light fixtures been put back. Over a year ago the entire bottom fell out of the marquee on the sidewalk. That part has not been fixed either.

It's been almost two years since the last movies were shown here.

Here's a picture of the marquee as of Sept 18, 2007:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maddiemcwa/1405144101/

It still has no wiring, no electricity, no neon, and the readerboard that faces north has no glass panels in it.

Well it was just in The Chronicle newspaper (Centralia, Wash. www.chronline.com) dated Tuesday October 24, 2007. The City of Centralia has taken back the Fox Theater from the Opera Pacifica group. The city had not been paid any money since 2003 from Opera Pacifica.

I still have equipment in the projection booth I need to get out.

Does the FOX still look like the train wreck it did in 2003?

No, it now has around 500 nearly new seats (with cupholder armrests) installed on the main floor and around 200 older good condition used seats installed in the balcony. New stair/step lighting has been installed in the balcony. Alot of cleaning and painting has been done to the auditorium. The dividing walls in the balcony that made up the two small theaters is gone so that the theater is a single screen again. Movies in 16mm can be run in the lower projection booth. The main heater in the basement is fully functional again. It puts out 3,000,000 BTU.

Here is some additional history of the Fox Theater.

This is a recent photo of the Fox Theater.

I will be meeting with an individual for The City of Centralia who has been appointed the project manager for the fox restoration on
3-3-08. I will take some pictures of the condition of the theater while Im there. Im very excited to say that The City is having people come in to provide a bid on what needs to be done to restore the Theater to it's original beauty. However they do need help to restore it properly, if anyone know anyone willing to contribute to the cause please respond. Thank you

Article In local Paper
Historic Fox Theater Repurchased by the City of Centralia



According to the Centralia Chronicle, the City of Centralia has made a HUGE step of progress in the downtown revitalization effort by repurchasing the historic Fox Theater on the corner of College Way (Locust Street) and S. Tower Avenue.


KUDOS to the City of Centralia for stepping in to lead the way with the restoration efforts to bring the Fox Theater back to glory! Again the City of Centralia City Council has stood behind their public commitment to a complete and total revitalization of the historic downtown. The Centralia City Council has demonstrated their true devotion to the success of the downtown business community by committing to do the work to properly restore the Fox and return the theater to operation.


It is estimated that the Fox Theater restoration will take $2.5 - $3.5 million dollars to fully restore. Currently the city does not have these restoration funds available. However, Economic Development Director, Polo Enriquez, has committed to lead the effort to raise the necessary funds to complete the project successfully.


Theaters are an essential part of the downtown mix in a historic city. Before mass media, the local theater was the hot spot in town for entertainment. Most every historic downtown we have traveled to has one or more great old theaters. The Fox Theater is a delightful example of a wonderful performance venue. A busy downtown theater signifies an active culture for the arts, sets a mood and atmosphere of excitement for entertainment and creates a certain “buzz” to the downtown that something exhilarating is going on.


An active and booked theater also brings many new and welcome faces to the downtown district to mingle and socialize before and after the show. The theater is one of the strongest pulling attractions that a downtown has to offer. Quality entertainment and frequent bookings are key to the success of the venue.

A fully restored Fox Theater will be a welcome addition to the downtown district. This renovation effort will give the citizens of Centralia an opportunity to get involved with the fund raising, which will in turn bring a sense of pride and ownership of the community theater that has been a vital part of historic downtown for the last century. It is estimated that the Fox Theater will be operation in 12-18 months and fully restored in 36-48 months.

Hot off the presses:
http://tinyurl.com/3z4xm2

A new website for the Fox Theater in Centralia, Washington:

http://centraliafoxtheater.com/Renovations.html

They are showing "Under The Same Moon" on February 6 and 7, 2009. Spanish audio with English subtitles. The film equipment is gone so I am assuming they are now showing videos/DVD's.

Confirmed. They are using a video projector and showing DVD's.

Here is a 1980 photo.

1986 Photo