Fox West Coast Theaters

Fox Theatres was a large chain of movie theaters in the United States dating from the 1920s either built by Fox Film Corporation studio owner William Fox, or subsequently merged in 1929 by Fox with the West Coast Theatres chain, to form the Fox West Coast Theatres chain. Fox West Coast went into bankruptcy and was sold to The National Theatres Corporation, led by Charles Skouras, on November 20, 1933 for $17,000,000.00.Eugene V. Klein later became CEO of National, and turned it into the conglomerate National General. Mann Theatres bought National General's theatres in 1973.

Many of these grand "movie palaces" were built with a mishmash of architectural styles drawn from Asian, Indian, Persian, and Moorish influences.

Fox theaters surviving today share almost identical histories of decline and fall into disrepair as demographics and movie-going habits changed in the post-World War II years. As many were located in urban centers, there have been subsequent campaigns to save, restore and preserve the architectural extravaganzas for other uses, especially the performing arts. The largest of the Fox Theatres is the Detroit Fox Theatre, which was fully restored in 1988 and is used as a performing arts center.

Other Fox theatres which have been restored and adapted for drama and music include those in Seattle and Saint Louis; also Tucson, Arizona, which reopened in January 2006 after being closed for thirty-two years; Hutchinson, Kansas, reopened in 1999; Oakland, California, reopened in February 2009; and Fullerton, California, where a non-profit community project is restoring the theatre. The Fox theatres in Visalia, California, reopened in 1999, and Atlanta, Georgia were shuttered for some time before restoration began.

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