Aurora Fox Arts Center
9900 E. Colfax Avenue,
Aurora,
CO
80010
9900 E. Colfax Avenue,
Aurora,
CO
80010
3 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Aurora Fox Arts Center (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox Inter-Mountain Theaters Inc.
Architects: Charles Dunwoody Strong
Functions: Concerts, Stage Shows
Styles: Quonset Hut, Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Fox Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
303.739.1970
Nearby Theaters
The Fox Theatre was built for Fox Intermountain Theatres, opening on October 30, 1946, with Robert Young and Dorothy McQuire in “Claudia and David”. It was one of the early Quonset Hut style movie theatres to open, and was unusual for the fact that it had a stepped stadium seating area at the rear. It is now used for stage shows and concerts.
Contributed by
Richard Peterson
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
“Quonset huts” were a WW2 invention, prefabricated steel structures built in ever-expanding domed hemispherical sections. In the immediate aftermath of the war they were an obvious way for enterprising ex-servicemen to start up businesses, and neighborhood movie theatres, then, seemed like a hot idea. How the Aurora house got to be a “Fox” house, though, suggests that Hollywood might have been thinking in such terms as well. Any thoughts, Mr. O'Malley?
Here’s the official website of the Aurora Fox.
It says (among other things) that the theatre was designed by Denver architect Charles Strong; was operated by the Fox Intermountain Amusement Company; was opened on October 30, 1946; closed as movie theatre following a fire on November 18, 1981; was renovated for use as an arts center in 1984. It also says that the original auditorium was, like its replacement, a quonset structure.
Quite a few quonset-style theatres were built in the late 1940s. I know of three that were built in the San Gabriel Valley area est of Los Angeles alone: Clarence J. Smale’s Colorado Theatrein Pasadena, and S. Charles Lee’s Star Theatre in La Puente and Garmar Theatre in Montebello. Cinema Treasures currently lists 47 theatres as being in quonsets (the Aurora Fox is not yet on the list, by the way), and is probably missing about as many.
Photos of the Fox appear on page 271 of the November 15, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The original auditorium, like its replacement, was a quonset structure, but Charles D. Strong’s designs for the facade and decoration were all decidedly Moderne.
That comment should read page 265, which is page 23 of the Modern Theatre section. There are two additional photos on the following page. Issuu renumbers the pages for the digital version.
Do they light the Fox name at night?
Nice photos looks like they are fixing her up.
1950’s photo added courtesy of The Denver Eye Facebook page.
I am putting together a series of books on the Denver area’s drive-ins and indoor moviehouses – including a full booking history of the Fox Aurora. If anyone has questions on the subject, feel free to contact me at and I’ll be happy to share my research with you. Thanks – Ken Mitchell
I’ve put together a booking history for the Fox Aurora, from 1946 up to 1978 so far, in case anyone might like to know when a particular movie played there. I’ll be happy to share my research with you. Take care – Ken Mitchell ()
Grand opening ad posted. It opened as the “Theatre of Tomorrow”