FULLERTON : Theater Restoration Hits Financial Snag

City Council members agreed Tuesday to allow a developer to continue work on restoring the historic Fox Theatre, even as they accepted a notice terminating his agreement with the city to do the renovation job.

The developer, Ed Lewis, a Los Angeles-based attorney, said he did not ask for an extension of the agreement, which expired Tuesday, because he is having trouble finding financing for the work.

“It is not a happy day for me to be here today,” Lewis said to the council. “Unfortunately, one has to face up to the realities of what the market is today.”

For Lewis, those realities included losing prospective tenants for the site and the loss of financial backing from Landmark Theater Corp., which after a merger with Samuel Goldwyn Co. offered a smaller start-up contribution than originally promised.

Gary Chalupsky, the director of the city’s Redevelopment Agency, said it was unlikely that another developer for the Fox Theatre could be found with much ease.

“If money were no object, the project would proceed,” Chalupsky said, adding that the city might have to discuss scaling back plans to totally restore the 1927 theater to its full grandeur. “Future discussions will have to revolve around the cost of community values.”

Councilman Chris Norby inquired about possibly restoring the outside of the theater, which closed in 1987, and converting the inside to shopping space.

“A lot of us in the community are attached to the Fox Theatre and have childhood memories of going there,” Norby said.

Lewis said that the theater needs massive restoration work, including new electrical and air-conditioning systems.