Restored Fox Riverside reopening as performing arts center

posted by CSWalczak on January 14, 2010 at 7:50 am

RIVERSIDE, CA — It has had its ups over the years (as, for example, the site of the first public preview of a certain film with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh) and downs (as a porno house and pigeon roost), but $32 million and painstaking attention to detail has brought new life to the Fox Riverside. A gala reopening will be held on January 15 and the new center will be booked by the Nederlander Organization.

“There were piles of debris. It was dark and dangerous to walk around and you needed a flashlight because you didn’t know what you were stepping on,” said Peyton Hall, a principal at Historic Resources Group, a Los Angeles firm hired to help restore the theater.

Cleaning up that mess — and recreating the theater as it looked 80 years ago — was Wise’s job, with help from Hall and other experts.

There’s much more in this article at PE.com.

Theaters in this post

• Fox Performing Arts Center