FULLERTON – After years of vacancy and neglect, the 1920s-era Fullerton Fox Theatre finally revealed visions of its former grandeur this month, as its iconic rooftop sign was re-installed, the capstone of a decade-long renovation project.
The sign, which had been grounded for the past few years, has been repainted a regal red, hearkening to the theater’s roots as a vaudeville house in the Roaring Twenties.
The work is in preparation for the theater’s 90th birthday celebration to be held later this month, a Memorial Day weekend ’20s-themed Speakeasy Days celebration.
The celebration will begin on Friday, May 22, with a sign unveiling and relighting ceremony. A community fair featuring tours of the theater and musical entertainment will follow on Saturday, May 23.
The theater’s resurrection is a thing some Fullerton residents have been waiting a quarter-century for, ever since the theater was shuttered in 1987.
The Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation has been fundraising restoration efforts for much of the past decade, spearheading construction work on the theater’s interior, arch, walls and balconies for the past several years, according to the Orange County Register.
“We are trying to be as truthful to the original as possible,” Jeff Greene, president of EverGreene, the architectural firm that has been working with the foundation to renovate the theater, told the Register in February 2015. “The theater will look like it did the day it opened.”
But not all of the theater’s aesthetic will that of 1920s Hollywood glitz: Chandelier lights, as well as the rooftop sign, have been outfitted with Bivar LED lights, according to the theater.
By Tim Worden. Published on May 8, 2015.
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