The Whitworthian

Issue date: 11/13/07 Last Updated: 11/15/07

Media Credit: Blair Tellers Alumna Anna Muller views a 1930s gown and tux - part of the "Celebrating the Fox Theater" exhibit at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture. [Click to enlarge]

Seven years ago, the Fox Theater, the only remaining large Art Deco theater north of San Francisco, was scheduled for demolition to make way for a Spokane Club parking lot.

When the Fox first went on the market, two of the potential buyers were the Spokane Symphony, which played at the Fox from 1968 to 1974, and the Spokane Club.

Thanks to benefactor Myrtle Woldson's initial gift of $3 million in the name of her father Martin Woldson, the Fox's restoration was secured and the building was saved from the wrecking ball.

Now, one of Spokane's historical gems is reopening to the public and welcoming home some old friends.

"The orchestra was in there playing last week doing what we call 'tuning the hall,' - making minor adjustments," said Annie Matlow, director of marketing and public relations for the Spokane Symphony. "They're very excited about the way it sounds as well as looks."

The Spokane Symphony purchased the theater for $1.1 million and is moving back into its former home this month. The symphony's Web site describes the Fox as "a unique remnant of the era of exotic atmospheric theatres of the 1920s and 1930s."

Matlow explained that during the seven-year project, the symphony received $8 million from the state of Washington as well as money from the federal government to fund the restoration.

"Almost 1,100 people purchased seats at $500 or more a piece and put their names on the seats or in memory of someone," Matlow said. "About 1,900 individual companies made donations."

To commemorate the end of a $31 million project, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (MAC) is now displaying a unique exhibit that captures the delicate process of the grand theater's renovation and artistic restoration.

Located on the top floor just past the museum's entrance, the exhibit spotlights the Fox's colorful history, novelties and artistic rebirth.

"We relied heavily on the Fox [staff members] themselves for information," the exhibit's creator, Patti Larkin, said.

Especially interesting are the photographs. Several show members of EverGreene Painting Studios, a team of specialists who came all the way from New York, removing the stains of cigarette smoke and popcorn grease, that, as the caption of the photograph explains, obscured the original vibrant colors of the theater's interior.

Attempts to hide these stains in earlier years resulted in the complete covering up of entire murals with red paint. One photograph reveals a single painter carefully chipping away at the red paint with the same carefulness as an archaeologist, while a faded mural slowly reappears from underneath.

When it first opened in 1931, the Fox boasted some of the latest technical marvels. As Spokane's first air-conditioned building, the Fox's mechanical room was outfitted entirely with large windows so the curious crowds could view the Fox's air-conditioning system.

The exhibit at the MAC also features an authentic movie projector the size of an adolescent stegosaurus.

"The giant projector on display is from another theater but comes from the same time period," Larkin said.

Also eye-catching are the mannequins donning different clothing from that era, which range from a woman's dress fashioned out of a potato sack to an elegant evening gown a citizen of high society might have worn on a night out.

"The clothing is all authentic," Larkin said. "They're from exactly that time period. It was donated and we have hundreds of costumes in our collections."

The historical significance of the Fox as retreat from reality during the Depression was one that allowed moviegoers to enter a world of fantasy and escape the harshness of everyday toil.

The exhibit explains the Fox acted as an outlet for the people of Spokane during difficult times. Its exotic interior and palace-like architecture made the Fox a place of accessible opulence and luxury.

One interesting item the MAC's display features is a reproduction of the Fox's original opening night souvenir booklet, which oozes nostalgia for the old magic of the cinema. The booklet's opening page reads, "To you who love the finer things in life; who respond with warm eagerness to the appeal of beauty, will come a thrill of pride and deep enjoyment when you first step across the threshold of this, the new Fox Theatre."

Upon seeing the Fox for the first time after its grand opening in 1931, a newspaper reporter described the Fox Theater as "the last word in beauty and efficiency."

Contact Blair Tellers at blair.tellers@whitworthian.com.

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