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Atlanta's
Fox Theatre, originally the Yaarab Temple
Shrine Mosque, was designed in the late 1920's as
headquarters for the 5,000-member Shriners organization.
It was a beautifully outlandish, opulent, grandiose
monument to the heady excesses of the pre-crash
1920's, a mosque-like structure complete with minarets,
onion domes, and an interior decor which was even
more lavish than its facade.
Entering the huge auditorium, an early reviewer
for the Atlanta Journal described "a picturesque
and almost disturbing grandeur beyond imagination.
Visitors encounter an indoor Arabian courtyard with
a sky full of flickering stars and magically drifting
clouds; a spectacular striped canopy overhanging
the balcony; stage curtains depicting mosques and
Moorish rulers in hand sewn sequins
and rhinestones."
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The
interior was a masterpiece of trompe l'oeil; false
beams, false balconies, false tents, ornate grillwork
hiding air conditioning and heating ducts. Virtually
every practical feature was disguised with artistic
fantasy.
Detailing and furnishing were equally ornate. Nothing
- no space, no furniture, no hardware - escaped
the gilt, the tile, the geometric design. Men's
and Ladies' Lounges, broom closets, telephone booths
were all emblazoned with intricate plaster, bronze
and painted detail. |
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Yet for all this seeming excess, The Fox retained a
sense of tastefulness. As rich as it was in ornamentation,
it never appeared overstated.
Its history has been as dramatic as its decor. Surviving
the economy has always been a way of life for the building.
Cost overruns threatened the Yaarab Temple mosque from
the outset. To generate additional funding, the Shriners
worked out a deal with movie mogul William Fox, who
at that time was building movie "palaces"
in Detroit, St. Louis, Brooklyn and San Francisco. He
made this his Southeastern jewel with minor alterations
in the original blueprints. |
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The Fox opened as the Great Depression began. After
125 weeks of talking pictures and elaborate stage
entertainment, it declared bankruptcy. Revived after
temporary city ownership, it scraped by during the
1930's.
Under strong management The Fox prospered as one
of Atlanta's finest movie houses from the 1940's
through the 1960's. Occasional live entertainment
by name artists and the Metropolitan Opera Company's
20-year annual spring performances brought The Fox
some of its greatest moments of glory. |
The time of the movie palace finally ran out around
1973. Television, suburban flight and a changing movie
industry took patrons elsewhere. Film distributors required
month-long commitments for first-run films. While this
was easy for suburban theaters holding only 500 seats
or so, it presented a problem for the massive Fox. With
almost 4,000 seats, it could complete a run in less
than a week. The Fox was reduced to showing second-run
movies to dwindling audiences. |
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The Fox faced yet another threat: the relentless growth
of metropolitan Atlanta. Almost sold and demolished
to make way for SouthernBell's headquarters, it was
rescued through the efforts of Atlanta Landmarks, Inc.,
a non-profit organization of interested, energetic and
committed Atlantans. Their four-year "Save The
Fox" fundraising campaign opened the hearts and
purse strings of individuals and corporate donors.
Under Atlanta Landmarks' ownership, The Fox was once
again put on a sound financial footing as a multi-purpose
performing arts center. In 1976, documents were submitted
qualifying The Fox to be designated a National Historic
Landmark.
The moment Atlanta Landmarks took control of The Fox,
a restoration program began. An army of volunteers went
to work cleaning the interiors for the first benefit
concert. Volunteer labor has been a significant ingredient
in the restoration ever since.
As time passed, the work required skilled artisans to
make the auditorium and exotic ballrooms attractive
enough to draw the large audience and quality shows
necessary for success. |
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In 1987, a second fund raising campaign was launched
to "Fix The Fox." It successfully raised $4.2
million to improve safety code compliance, provide access
for the handicapped, better equip the building to operate
efficiently and preserve it structurally.
To date, more than $20 million has been spent in the
restoration project. The Fox boasts its own in house
Restoration Staff made up of highly skilled artisans
directed by an expert in Historic Preservation.
The Restoration Staff is fully engaged in restoring
and preserving the significant architectural features
of the Fox in an authentic manner, including the decorative
surfaces, the masonry and cast stone exterior, the furniture
collection, and the archive of artifacts and documentation.
In addition, the Restoration
Department is instrumental in the technological improvements
and architectural modifications to the building. The
activities of the Restoration Staff are funded by ticket
surcharges and operating surpluses.
The Fox has generated an operating surplus every year
since Landmarks took over in 1975. It may
be the only independent, non-profit civic auditorium
in the country which can sustain its own operations
financially. At present some 325 nights a year are booked
in the auditorium while the Egyptian Ballroom and Grand
Salon are rented regularly for corporate events, video
and film shoots, political events, press conferences,
sports presentations, proms, weddings, and a wide variety
of special occasions.
A tribute to the Fox's movie-palace heritage is the
Summer Film Festival, a popular series of high quality
classic and contemporary films. All film festival events
feature a Wine Tasting and pre-movie "Sing Along"
with the Mighty Moller organ, known as "Mighty
Mo'". The "Mighty Mo", a 4000 pipe theatrical
organ, is extraordinarily maintained as is the collection
of the 1930's era lyrics slides that are projected to
aid patrons in the sing along. This collection of slides
is carefully housed within the archives of the Restoration
Department.
The Fox has generated millions of dollars for the Atlanta
economy. An impressive range of events continues to
attract nearly three-quarters of a million visitors
a year, from Atlanta area residents to tourists to international
dignitaries.
The Fox stands today as a fiercely protected landmark
and a nationally acclaimed theater; having survived
depression, mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy, competition,
television, real estate development, and above all,
age.
The Fox is an impeccably intact and aggressively preserved
Landmark that has been designated a National Historic
Landmark (the highest national ranking), listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. The Fox is also
a Georgia Museum Building (the most prestigious statewide
ranking).
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To build The Fox Theatre today would cost more
than $300 million. |
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The discovery of King Tut's tomb
in 1922 launched a worldwide fascination with
Egyptian decor. The results can be seen inter-woven
with the Moorish decor of The Fox. |
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The theatre's enormous Bedouin canopy overhang
is really a work of plaster and steel rods, and
not only serves as ornamentation, but also as
an acoustical funnel to project sound to the rear
of the house. |
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The Fox Theatre can seat up to 4,678 patrons. |
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The beguiling sky is in reality a vaulted ceiling,
painted ultramarine blue. The twinkling stars
are 11-watt bulbs fixed above four-inch crystals.
The drifting clouds are produced by a special
projector. |
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The Fox Theatre ballrooms have
hosted receptions and special events for visiting
ambassadors, noted U.S. politicians and internationally
acclaimed people, including Prince Charles himself. |
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An estimated 750,000 people visit the Fox Theatre every year. |
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Until 1995, coal was used to heat the steam boilers in the case of emergencies. The Fox Theatre spends approximately over $40,000 a month on power. The Fox still houses the original steam boilers today. |
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The Fox Theatre was one of the earliest air conditioned buildings in the country, even preceding the White House. |
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The Fox Theatre serves more than four and a half tons of popcorn each year. |
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The Yaarab Temple, a local branch of the Shriners,
is founded in Atlanta by Henry Stockdell and 32
others. Stockdell also founded the Capital City
Club. |
With over 4,000 members, Yaarab
Temple begins plans to build a mosque. |
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The Yaarab Temple purchases the Fox Theatre site
for $225,000.
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Six architectural firms compete
for the contract to design the Shriners' new mosque.
Atlanta firm Marye, Alger and Vinour win. |
The Shriners realize even before construction
begins that they're under financed. They sign
an agreement with movie theater palace mogul William
Fox to lease the auditorium to him for 21 years.
The cornerstone laying ceremony takes place on
June 14. |
The Fox Theatre opens to great
fanfare on December 25, less than two months after
the Stock Market's crash. |
The Fox Theatre Corporation goes bankrupt,
forcing the Fox Theatre to close after just 125
shows. By August, the doors re-open.
In December the mortgage is foreclosed and the
theatre is auctioned for $75,000 to Theatre Holding
Company, a group of Yaarab Temple officers, who
then lose it to the city for non-payment of taxes.
The city operates the facility, using it for occasional
music performances until 1935 |
Arthur Lucas and William Jenkins,
operators of regional theaters, form a partnership
with Paramount Publix called Mosque Inc. They
purchase the Fox for $725,000 and reposition it
as a movie house. The theater gains firm footing
for the first time since it opened. |
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Georgia Theatre Company steps in to manage the
facility. The banquet hall is renamed the Egyptian
Ballroom and becomes the site of public functions,
dances and social affairs.
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The original air conditioner is
replaced with the unit that still cools the Fox
Theatre today.
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The Metropolitan Opera engages in a 20-year
run for one week each spring. |
Wilby-Kincey leases the building
from Mosque Inc.; Noble Arnold manages the facility
through 1970 with white glove efficiency. |
The Moller organ sighs its last note after
25 years of neglect. |
Unofficial technical director
Joe Patten spends 10 months restoring the organ
to its early magnificence. |
Southern Bell approaches Mosque Inc. about
selling the Fox which would then be razed so it
could erect a regional headquarters.
The Fox is placed on the National Register of
Historic Places in May; Atlanta Landmarks is officially
formed in August.
Atlanta Landmarks' sole purpose is to save the
Fox Theatre from destruction. An eight-month moratorium
is put on the sale of the building to allow for
a financial feasibility study. |
The Fox Theatre closes January
2 after the showing of The Klansman.
Atlanta Landmarks secures $1.8 million in loans,
buys the building, but must repay the loans with
interest in three years. On October 29, the theatre
re-opens with a concert by Linda Ronstadt. |
Atlanta Landmarks pays off the mortgage six
months early. Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler
and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform at
a fund-raiser for the theater. |
The Broadway hit A Chorus Line
breaks national records by grossing almost $1
million during its three-week run at the Fox.
The Fox celebrates its 50th anniversary with a
month of special programs, including a benefit
concert by Metropolitan Opera soprano Beverly
Sills, concerts by clarinetist Benny Goodman and
country star Waylon Jennings. The Atlanta Ballet,
also celebrating its 50th anniversary, gives its
annual performance of The Nutcracker at the Fox. |
The Rolling Stones play to a standing-room-only
crowd on October 26, the day that Edgar Neiss
assumes his new job as general manager. The Stones
take a filed trip to Savannah that day, but when
they return to Atlanta, the city is socked in
by fog and they are re-routed to Macon. They go
on 90 minutes late. Neiss begins a campaign to
attract top entertainment to the Fox. |
Yul Brynner appears in a four-week
run of The King and I. Performance magazine recognizes
it as the highest-grossing road show in the United
States for the year. The Fox is officially established
as Atlanta's premier Broadway venue. |
The Fox hosts the League of Women Voters' Democratic
Party Presidential Primary Debate. |
The Fox installs state-of-the-art
sound and lighting systems. |
The Fox enters into an arrangement with Georgia
Public Television to co-present cultural attractions.
The Fox competes with New York's Radio City Music
Hall and the Fox Theatre in St. Louis for the
title of best large venue in the United States
for touring shows. |
A second fund-raising campaign
to "Fix the Fox" raises $4.2 million.
Christopher Manos' popular Theater of the Stars,
a 35-year Atlanta institution, begins a long-term
association with the Fox with its summer series
of plays and musicals. |
The Fox Theatre is named number one grossing
theater in 3,000 - 5,000 seat category, according
to Performance magazine. It has the most events,
the greatest box office receipts and the highest
attendance in the U.S.
The newly remodeled Spanish Room is opened. |
The Fox is designated a Landmark
Building of Atlanta.
The February engagement of Les Miserables breaks
all U.S. box office records in its three-week
run at the Fox, according to the League of American
Theatres and Producers.
The 50th anniversary re-premiere of Gone With
The Wind is held at the Fox. The Fox facade is
transformed into a reproduction of Tara, Scarlett
O'Hara's beloved plantation. Original stars including
Butterfly McQueen attend. |
The Fox launches the Coca-Cola International
Series of multi-cultural, multi-national attractions. |
The Fox is designated a National
Landmark Museum Building. |
The Fox is the headquarters for the Australian
Organizing Committee during the 1996 Centennial
Olympic Games. In April, a four-alarm fire that
started in an attic causes $2 million worth of
damage. |
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On May, 17, 1974 the Fox was put on the National
Register of Historic Places. Buildings less than
50 years old are not meant to qualify but because
of the Fox's "Outstanding architectural merit"
it made the list. (This would only prevent the
building from being demolished with federal funds.)
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July 10, 1974 meeting at Herren's
restaurant with Mayor Maynard Jackson for a "Save
The Fox" meeting. In attendance were: Brad
Curry, Ed Noble, Betty Jo Cook, William Pressley,
John McCall, Bob Foreman, Bob Van Camp (fox organist
for many years), Charles Walker (glass & light
artisan who had worked on the fox for many years),
Pat Connell, Joe Tanner, William Griffen, Bill
Hamilton, Lee Dunagen, Mayor Jackson, Joe Patten,
Ed Negri, Steve Negri.
(possibly the first official "Save the Fox
meeting)
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December 31, 1974 Alex Cooley presents The Gregg
Allman Tour- 4000 attended.
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December 31, 1974-high school &
college kids picket outside the Theatre; Rodney
Cook (now on the board of the Fox Theatre) was
among them. Some of these students helped move
the furniture to safe locations in the basement.
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March 29, 1975-- AJC article headline: "DEAL
TO SAVE THE FOX REPORTED NEAR". Southern
Bell Co. & Atlanta Landmarks Inc. are on threshold
of agreement for a 2 million dollar exchange of
land that will save the building from the wrecking
ball.
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April 4, 1975 AJC article: "Land
Swap Proposal Near"
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May 20, 1975 -Five Atlanta Banks reach a verbal
agreement to lend $1.85 million to Atlanta Landmarks
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June 3, 1975, AJC article: "FOX
SPARED DESTRUCTION IN GROUP EFFORT"
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June 19, 1975, AJC article: 'EVERYONE CALLED
FOX DEAL WINNER"
The deal involves swap of the Fox for land on
the block valued at 1.8 million dollars. That
land includes land Marta was to use for its North
Avenue Station. In exchange for permanent underground
easement for the station, MARTA will purchase
one remaining parcel of property and give it to
Southern Bell.
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June 21, 1975- Atlanta Landmarks
officially takes control of Fox
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December, 1975- A 25 cent surcharge is added
to ticket prices to go toward saving the Fox.
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March 20, 1976 Delta Zeta hosted
an "Evening at the Fox" (see the King
Kong poster) and raised $70,000.
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May 26, 1976- Fox Made a National Historic Landmark
by the US Department of the Interior. Eligible
for federal grants to help pay for its restoration
and the theatre becomes harder to destroy using
federal funds.
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June 24, 1976-Atlanta Landmarks
turns over its first check of $131,812.35 to the
five area banks. 3,000 people have made donations
to date.
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December, 1977- With two anonymous pledges of
$400,000 and $250,000 and dozens of smaller pledges,
Atlanta Landmarks has reached 89% of its goal.
7000 people have contributed.
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February 27, 1978: Fox mortgage
paid off, 6 months ahead of schedule.
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*photos courtesy of Fox Archives
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History
of the Fox 
