Fox Theatre Seeks Partner(s)

posted by EdwardRytman on January 18, 2006 at 12:02 pm

CRESTVIEW, FL — Looking for a short term investor or other to help in the renovation of this FOX THEATRE. The name has been retained and is incorportated in the State of Florida.

Built in 1947, the Fox premiered the movie “12 O'Clock High.” The building location is on Main Street in downtown Crestview, Florida in the center of town. Crestview is located next to Eglin AFB where a lot of the filming was made as well as in Crestview. Gregory Peck was featured in local newspapers and played baseball with some of the local teams while filming here.

The theatre was closed in 1979 and I obtained it from the second owner. Due to local fire codes etc., I am looking for some help in bringing back to life this historical building. The theatre had a single screen and a larger stage has been added 20'X40'. With hopes of bringing it back to life, I plan on having live shows along with some movies and eats.

Crestview is a member of the Main Street Assocition and has made many improvments to its downtown area. One of the fastest growing cities in Florida, Crestview is located only a few miles from Destin, Fort Walton Beach and the Gulf of Mexico. If you are insterested, Contact name and number is: Edward M. Rytman Jr. (Mickey) (850)-974-4369 E-Mail:

Comments (7)

irvl
irvl on January 18, 2006 at 1:15 pm

Good luck in restoring the Fox. I’m involved in the restoration of the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden, Florida. We Florida folks should stick together on theatre restoration issues.

Patsy
Patsy on January 18, 2006 at 3:39 pm

Irv: Congratulations to you and other FL folks for putting your interest, energy and finances into restoring these wonderful old movie palaces for future generations to enjoy and to appreciate rather than demolish. Winter Garden is a beautiful quaint FL town and the addition of a restored theatre is a good thing!

irvl
irvl on January 19, 2006 at 12:36 am

Thank you, Patsy. We appreciate your support!

EdwardRytman
EdwardRytman on January 22, 2006 at 3:21 am

Just wanted to say Thanks to all the people that keep our historic movie places alive and want to join in on speaking out for their existance.

Mickey Rytman
Fox Theatre
Crestview Florida

HornerJack
HornerJack on January 22, 2006 at 4:27 am

Suggest a campaign in which the loss of the theater is emphasised. The historic value of the town WILL be impacted by the loss of the structure. The value of preservation is the saving of at least one example of of a period in history.

Lex
Lex on February 6, 2006 at 2:09 am

I used to live in Crestview and the only theatre was the “Fox”. I died laughing when I saw this…because every once in a blue moon- I check Crestview’s sites and sounds out…and came across this. I think it is fine if you want to re-establish a landmark; however I wonder…would you show “BrokeBack Mountain” or would the local Bible thumpers freak and ban it??? If it is anything like the old Crestview- and- judging by some forum I was just perusing…PROBABLY. If you lived here in NYC- you would probably have a lot of luck in restoring a landmark and having it artsy and such…but my recollection of Crestview was that the biggest event happening was Wednesday night at the baptist church…everyone getting saved after greasy fried chicken and cornbread. I was Catholic- that was considered an anamoly in that town. Anyway, like I said…saw “Jaws” at the Fox…Good Luck

Lex

robinsondk
robinsondk on May 20, 2006 at 12:37 pm

I live in Crestview — have often driven by the Fox and wished someone had the money to restore it — heck, I wish I had the money! It would be a great addition to the city.

And Lex, it sounds as if you’ve been gone from Crestview a REALLY long time. “Brokeback Mountain” showed at the Cinema 3 here. There was no talk of a ban, no talk of boycott.

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