FULLERTON : Plans to Renovate Fox Theatre on Hold
Plans to renovate and reopen the city’s historic downtown Fox Theatre have been put on hold because of continuing effects of the recession, according to the theater’s owner.
Ed Lewis announced that he would relinquish his option to revive the 67-year-old theater, which expires today, because he cannot find financing.
“The lending economy is scared and with the riots it’s gotten worse,” Lewis said. “Commercial real estate in Southern California is not a high priority for bankers today.”
The Harbor Boulevard theater has been vacant since it closed in 1987. Renovation plans called for leaving the theater’s large screen intact and dividing the upstairs balcony into two smaller theaters, featuring foreign and art films. Lewis also planned to add an 8,000-square-foot shopping area and a restaurant.
Lewis has asked officials to allow him to continue his efforts to secure financing for the project and said he will seek help from the city’s Redevelopment Agency.
“I am confident the project will succeed,” Lewis said. “But we are in some difficult times right now.’
Redevelopment Agency head Gary Chalupsky has recommended that the City Council agree to allow Lewis to proceed with his plans.
“The bottom line is that the economic climate doesn’t give us a big demand out there,” Chalupsky said. “How many 2,000-seat theaters have you been to lately? It’s not where the industry has gone.”
Plans to include shopping space in the project are now unlikely to come about, Lewis said, because he needs to shave at least $2 million from the completed project’s estimated $4.3 million cost to make it financially viable.
Lewis bought the theater in 1989 and originally had an agreement under which Landmark Theaters would contribute $1 million to the project and then lease the theater back from him. But Landmark Theater Corp. merged with Samuel Goldwyn Co., which offered a smaller start-up contribution.
Lewis said he is considering suing Landmark for breach of contract.
“We are continuing to talk to them so as to not go to court,” Lewis said. “But at this juncture I am not optimistic.”
Lewis added that if he finds new funding for the project, the theater might have to be divided into a six-plex showing mainstream films. He also said that cost constraints may require him to scale back plans to fully restore the building to its historic grandeur.
“If Landmark is not going forward with the project, I’ll obviously have to look at other exhibitors, and the concept would have to be designed around their exhibition policy,” Lewis said. “Art is a specialty, and there are not many exhibitors in it.”
To date, the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency has spent $2.5 million on the project, mostly for land acquisition costs related to the larger development plans. Lewis said he has spent $1.3 million of his own funds on the project.
