Fox Theatre Advocates Given New Hope

Buoyed by a last-minute $300,000 loan offer, Fox Theatre preservationists on Wednesday vowed a “do or die” campaign to save the 1920s landmark -- despite losing a critical vote by the Fullerton City Council the previous day.

The Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation, which wants to buy the downtown theater and save it from demolition, sought a $1.8-million loan from the city after its 10-month fundraising campaign came up short.

The council, which had already pledged $1.6 million to help the effort, rejected the request by a 4-1 vote Tuesday.

Hours after the meeting, an anonymous supporter offered the $300,000 loan, boosting hopes that foundation volunteers could raise enough money by themselves in time to meet Monday’s final deadline, said Jane Reifer, foundation president.

Foundation volunteers had previously said their deadline was last Monday, but they actually have a week more than that to put funds in escrow, Reifer said.

The Fox’s owner is asking $3.5 million. According to the foundation’s latest figures, it has more than $831,200 in cash and pledges to add to the city’s earlier pledge of $1.6 million. It then would need about $1 million more, but with the $300,000 loan, that’s reduced to $743,761, Reifer said.

The Fox’s architecture and interior murals give it “a pedigree” that places it among the nation’s best movie theaters, said Ted Gooding, Southern California director for the Theatre Historical Society of America.

It was designed by the theater architectural firm of Meyer & Holler, “the most famous builders in movie theater history,” Gooding said. The firm also built Grauman’s Chinese and the Egyptian theaters in Hollywood.

For that reason, it “becomes even more important to save the Fox Theatre,” he said.

Preservationists said they decided to make a final push after receiving the $300,000 loan offer.

“We’re thrilled with the new donation, and with that we’re kicking off our ‘do or die’ campaign,” Reifer said.

About 900 donors have pledged contributions, for the most part in small amounts. Among the larger offers were several at $10,000, including one from Fullerton Councilman Shawn Nelson and his wife, and a $25,000 pledge from Robert and Linda Weide. Robert Weide is executive producer and a director of the HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Reifer said the foundation would continue to seek donations large and small in the final days and would continue to offer naming rights for the theater.

The campaign to save the theater hit full stride in the last few weeks when supporters raised nearly $200,000, including $50,000 from the Morgan Group, which gave up its option to buy the property in favor of the foundation.

If the money is not raised, the Morgan Group can reclaim its option to buy the building. If the option is not acted on, the property remains with the owner, Los Angeles attorney Edward Lewis. The theater is slated for sale to a developer, which plans to raze it for apartments.

The theater, closed since 1987, has severe water damage and has become a downtown eyesore.

Some believe that even if the foundation buys the theater, renovation and seismic retrofitting would add more than $18 million in costs.

More than one speaker at the council meeting referred to the project as “a money pit.”

However, foundation volunteers say they are confident that if they succeed in buying and renovating the theater, they could get $500,000 a year in rental income from a restaurant and shops because of the property’s additional commercial space.