Tower Theatre for the Performing Arts
815 E. Olive Avenue,
Fresno,
CA
93728
815 E. Olive Avenue,
Fresno,
CA
93728
8 people
favorited this theater
The Tower Theatre opened with a premier showing of Nelson Eddy in “Balalaika” for a private party of local dignitaries, Fox West Coast Theatre executives, and guests on December 14, 1939. Co-hosts for the event were developer and owner A. Emory Wishon (1882-1948) of San Francisco, a prominent California hydroelectric executive, and Charles P. Skouras of Los Angeles, president of Fox West Coast Theaters.
The theatre opened its doors to the film-viewing public on December 15, 1939. The double feature program included “Dancing Coed” and “Henry Goes Arizona”.
A complete restoration of the exterior facade, ongoing tenant improvements in the retail wings, and modifications to allow the adaptive reuse of the theatre auditorium for the performing arts have brought new life to the theatre and to the surrounding Tower District. The area has since become a lively collection of restaurants, pubs, jazz clubs, and antique shops, with the highly successful Tower Theatre for the Performing Arts at its center.
In 1991, the dramatic theatre rehabilitation was honored with a California Preservation Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Restoration, and with an Award of Honor from the San Joaquin Chapter, American Institute of Architects.
Contributed by
Paul Salley
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
Here is a 1981 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/c9mhay
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ykmm3g9
Here a couple of recent photos of the marquee:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/4413362528
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/4412645655
The tower, especially the sparkle-y ball on top, looks a great deal like another S. Charles Lee marquee, the Alex Theatre in Glendale, which was added to that theater a year after this one was built.
/theaters/8/
Very nice looks great all lit up a night.
Very nice looks great all lit up a night.
-DB, Don’t forget the Academy Theatre in Inglewood, CA also has a neon sparkle ball too.
do they still show films here. such a classics like the fox theater in visalia. just curious.
went here to see a miss nelson is missing play s a class field trip in second grade. then after that whenever we would drive by it at night i would marvel at the neon most importantly it’s neon sparkle ball!
On my Twelfth Birthday, my parents took me to see Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” here!