Pomona Fox Theater
Encyclopedia
The Fox Theater Pomona is a fully restored Art Deco
movie palace
from Hollywood’s golden age in Pomona
, Los Angeles County, California
. Today the Fox Theater Pomona is a state-of-the-art venue for concerts, cinema, performances, and parties. It is the flagship attraction of the Pomona Arts Colony, a vibrant neighborhood of galleries, nightclubs, lofts, and restaurants.
Partly as a result of citizen activism, the city bought the building. In 2002 the non-profit Pomona Fox Corporation was founded to explore means of preserving and reusing the theater, but they were not able to secure enough funding for their restoration efforts. The building was then sold to its current owners, the Tessier family (who are also responsible for the creation of the Pomona Arts Colony concept and re-developers of many local buildings of historical importance) and their family owned Gerald Investments, on February 7, 2007, who spent millions restoring the building to make it a beautifully revamped venue for the arts, music and film. After two years of restoration, it reopened on May 21, 2009, with Gogol Bordello
performing and has since hosted many nationally touring music acts, several opera and dance productions, and other cultural events.
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
movie palace
Movie palace
A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...
from Hollywood’s golden age in Pomona
Pomona, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Pomona had a population of 149,058, a slight decline from the 2000 census population. The population density was 6,491.2 people per square mile...
, Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
. Today the Fox Theater Pomona is a state-of-the-art venue for concerts, cinema, performances, and parties. It is the flagship attraction of the Pomona Arts Colony, a vibrant neighborhood of galleries, nightclubs, lofts, and restaurants.
History
Operated as a first-run theater for many years, it went into decline along with other large, single screen theaters in the early 1970s as a result of the increasing popularity of multiplex theaters. It survived for a few years showing Spanish language movies, then closed in 1977. It was reopened in 1998 and used as a venue for live music events and raves, but the city withdrew the operation's permit after several violent incidents took place. The theater's interior was damaged during this period.Partly as a result of citizen activism, the city bought the building. In 2002 the non-profit Pomona Fox Corporation was founded to explore means of preserving and reusing the theater, but they were not able to secure enough funding for their restoration efforts. The building was then sold to its current owners, the Tessier family (who are also responsible for the creation of the Pomona Arts Colony concept and re-developers of many local buildings of historical importance) and their family owned Gerald Investments, on February 7, 2007, who spent millions restoring the building to make it a beautifully revamped venue for the arts, music and film. After two years of restoration, it reopened on May 21, 2009, with Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...
performing and has since hosted many nationally touring music acts, several opera and dance productions, and other cultural events.