STRUCTURES : Fillmore Theater Restoration Built on Community Support : The Towne, opened for vaudeville in 1915, was incapacitated by the Northridge quake. Plans are to reopen it for movies by August.

“The Best Town Ever” reads the marquee of the Towne Theater, smack dab in the middle of downtown Fillmore. This is no idle boast, but a sign of reconstruction.

A closer look behind the plywood barricades and chain-link fence separating citizens from the theater reveals an edifice shaken from its moorings. The marquee itself, once free-standing and held fast by cables connected to the facade, is now propped up on makeshift pillars. One corner of the exterior has crumbled away, exposing framing and a rusty I-beam.

Another sign of hope adorns the barrier outside the theater, reading “SAVE THE TOWNE THEATER! We need your help. Please donate. Call: 524-3701.”

The cause of the problem, you’ll recall, was the devastating Northridge earthquake last Jan. 17. Much of Fillmore’s historic Central Avenue area, with buildings dating to the early part of the century, was badly damaged by the quake. The dreaded red tags, declaring a building unsafe for occupancy, lined the trail of deconstruction.

But the unfolding saga of the Towne Theater is one of the most heartening emblems of a will to survive here. Across the street, a large vacant lot looks like a gaping hole in the downtown’s once-impressive fabric, much like the vacant lots still speckling downtown Santa Cruz subsequent to its 1989 quake.

And, for a time, it looked as though the theater property, too, would wind up a patch of dirt.

After the quake, the theater’s previous owner, Dale Larson, decided he couldn’t afford to repair the damaged structure and planned to demolish it. But the city came to the rescue.

Last spring, Fillmore’s Redevelopment Agency used funds to acquire the property and applied for state grant funds to save the building. A $450,000 grant from the State Historic Restoration Office assured continuation of the current reconstruction project.

As City Manager Roy Payne explained, “There were some other buildings that were demolished as a result of earthquake damage, but they were not considered community structures and didn’t have the same kind of emotional appeal as the theater did. Beyond that, we have a very limited amount of resources, so we had to prioritize what we would try to save.”

In a sense, the theater has been at the heart of this small town, literally and figuratively, for much of its official existence. In an era of strip malls, franchises and multiplexes, Fillmore’s downtown area and its central theater, in particular, have remained symbols of an earlier time.

“Let’s face it, Small Town USA is not around much anymore, especially within driving distance of Los Angeles,” said Fillmore’s Fire Chief Pat Askren. Askren led a hard-hat tour through the old theater, which still looks as though a storm recently hit it.

An eerie stillness and confusion hangs over the darkened facility. Debris on the lobby floor includes stray pieces of film stock. A very stale batch of popcorn still sits in the popper, made the night before the quake.

We went downstairs below the stage, where small dressing rooms, long unused, once housed vaudeville performers.

A small-town movie house can play a sentimental role in the life of its citizens. Askren, who grew up in Fillmore, waxed nostalgic as we rummaged through old theater-chair parts and arc lights stored below.

“I used to come here as a kid in the ‘50s. Then, it was a quarter to get in, and you saw two movies and a cartoon,” he said.

At the moment, a contractor is going through a process of stabilizing and weather-protecting the building, and an architect is doing historical research to determine in which stylistic direction to proceed. According to Payne, “That’s the first step, and then they’ll come up with a retrofit and restoration plan.”

Using the state grant, Payne said, “we think will get the building retrofitted and safe for occupancy again. But of all the improvements, getting it back in operation as a movie theater is the objective that the committee has.”

That committee is the local citizen group called “Save the Towne Theater,” which is planning fund-raising projects. Part of the plan involves appealing to Hollywood, which has often capitalized on Fillmore’s charms as a location. There will be an auction early next year of movie memorabilia autographed by celebrities.

Payne hopes the theater will be open and screening movies by August. Beyond that, there are plans to use the theater for other artistic and community uses. Local theater productions, concerts and community meetings could be accommodated here.

“When it initially opened in 1915, it was a vaudeville theater,” Payne commented. “There is a stage in there; it’s been used for many years simply as a movie house. Now that it’s in public ownership, we have plans to make it more of a community-use facility rather than just a movie house.”

It has been a slow recovery, but Fillmore is very much on the mend. Bricks from demolished buildings have been saved and offered free to those involved in restorations. Zoning ordinances will require new buildings to adapt to established parameters of vintage architectural style.

There, at last, lies a positive side effect of January’s disaster. An act of God changed the face of Fillmore, but now acts of locals are engaged in rebuilding and reshaping their town.

“The city is bound and determined to come back,” Askren said. Nowhere is that spirit more evident than at the Towne.