Merger May Speed Renovation of 65-Year-Old Fox Theater

Plans to renovate the historic Fox Fullerton Theatre will continue despite merger negotiations between Heritage Entertainment Co. and the Samuel Goldwyn Co., said a spokesman for Landmark Theatre Corp. of Los Angeles, the theater’s co-owner.

Landmark is a subsidiary of Heritage.

“If anything, it will probably speed up things,” Landmark spokesman David Swanson said in reference to the planned $1.5-million renovation of the 65-year-old theater. Swanson said the merger between Los Angeles-based Goldwyn and Heritage should be completed in six weeks.

In September, the City Council granted a 95-day extension for filing a financial plan to Edward G. Lewis, a Hollywood attorney who co-owns the Harbor Boulevard theater. Lewis sought the extension because of financial difficulties with his partner, Landmark. At the time, Landmark was going through a financial restructuring.

Councilman A.B. (Buck) Catlin said the upcoming merger of the business interests involved is an “encouraging note.”

“I’m looking down the road 20 years from now,” Catlin said. “And I’m convinced that developing the theater and the corner it sits on will do lots for the downtown area.”

In April, the City Council voted 4 to 1 to spend $4.7 million to buy and demolish houses behind the theater, relocate tenants living there and build a 200-space parking garage on the land.

As part of the agreement, Lewis agreed to spend up to $1.55 million to restore the theater’s six Italian-style murals and stage decorations and bring the building up to earthquake and handicapped-accessibility standards. That amount is in addition to the $1.1 million that Lewis said he has already spent in renovations. The total cost of the project will be about $7.5 million.

Landmark Theatre Corp. operates 80 screens nationwide, featuring primarily foreign and classic movies. In Orange County, the company operates the Balboa Cinema in Newport Beach and the Port Theatre in Corona del Mar.

The Fox Theatre, built in 1925, has remained empty since it closed down in 1987. While plans call for the theater’s huge screen to remain, the cinema will be split, and the upstairs balcony area will be converted into two smaller screens. The theater is scheduled to be opened later this year.