Renewed Jewel in Stockton

Jerry Seinfeld Launches Renovated Theater

The 74-year-old Fox Theater was treated to an $8 million makeover and renamed after comedian Bob Hope. The renovation project included a new marquee, acoustic plaster, refurbished seating for more than 2,000 and restored light fixtures.

By Jennifer Bonnett

	Photos courtesy of city of Stockton.

Seventy-four years ago, Stockton's Fox Theater opened to a gala crowd estimated at 20,000. They likely carried opera glasses and arrived by Model Ts.

In September, an estimated crowd of 2,100 ushered into the event center, now called "The Bob Hope Theatre," to see comedian Jerry Seinfeld perform. Some, including Hope's widow, Delores, arrived in limousines.

They were anxious to see the result of a multimillion-dollar historical restoration that started more than a year ago on one of the city's crown jewels. And, according to those who know best, Central California's Fox Theater has returned to its regal glory of 1930.

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The city of Stockton, civic leaders and tourism promoters are all banking that they have ticket for further revitalizing an aging downtown by drawing from the region. Stockton is 50 mi. south of Sacramento.

The $8 million-plus renovation project includes a new marquee, acoustic plaster, refurbished seating for more than 2,000 and restored light fixtures. It is the latest Stockton Redevelopment Agency project, and just one of many construction projects happening simultaneously in the downtown area.

General contractor McFadden Construction of Stockton was awarded the bid for the theater's renovation in early 2003. Now that it's complete, project manager David Baumback said so much labor went into it he feels like "a proud daddy."

The money to refurbish the former baroque movie palace, one of Stockton's most prominent landmarks, came from various sources including the U.S. Congress.

Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) got the balling rolling with a $1.2 million appropriation.

"When you get that coupled with a historic designation, a $200,000 roof repair becomes an $8.5 million renovation," said project manager John Hinson, who has worked for the city of Stockton for 15 years.

The state provided additional funding through a California Heritage Fund Grant, A. G. Spanos, a local developer and owner of the San Diego Chargers, kicked in $500,000 and asked that the theater would be named for a longtime friend, comedian Bob Hope. Spanos flipped the switch on the new marquee at the beginning of the gala reopening ceremony, throwing neon pinks, yellows and oranges into the sky. Hope's children and widow also attended.

It is the only theater in the United States dedicated to Bob Hope, who died last year; another theater is dedicated to Hope in London.

The restoration's funding balance came from local business donations and money raised by the city's redevelopment agency. The theater is actually owned by the city of Stockton, which started making repairs to it earlier this decade, first by cleaning the carpets, repairing water damage and ultimately roofing it.

That's after one owner in the 1970s wanted to tear it down and create a parking lot. The action was even approved by the city council, but it was rescinded when the Friends of the Fox took over, Hinson said.

Located on Main Street across from the county courthouse, the theater is in the heart of downtown and in the middle of several other prominent Stockton projects. The city is currently clearing land for a new minor league baseball park, just finished a waterfront events center and adjacent movie theater, and has rebuilt a deteriorating marina.

And, just blocks from the Fox Theater, restoration work similar to the Fox Theater is underway at the historic Hotel Stockton.

"It's actually just the beginning for a whole area," Hinson said of the theater's completion.

At the Fox, the ornate moldings that decorate its outside walls have been returned to their original glory. The new theater now features two stone mosaics, a gold leaf-covered rotunda and a new marbled floor. Its prized possession is a restored 1928 Morton pipe organ, originally installed in the Seattle Fox Theater.

Throughout the new Stockton venue, the golds are shinier and the burgundies richer. A mystical green color has been brushed in, and new lighting illuminates it all.

Even the historic sign that spells out "Fox" in vertical letters was taken down and refurbished.

McFadden worked closely with New York-based subcontractors, Evergreen Studios, for the ornamental moldings and many local subs for electrical work, painting, plumbing and carpet installation.

The hardest work, according to Baumback, was getting the interior paint just right.

"The mosaic and specialty paintings were the hardest thing and took a lot of time," he said, adding that it was a project he thought would take only a few days. It was more like a few weeks.

"We had never done anything that detailed."

The company usually only does patchwork or complete-building construction.

Wenell, Mattheis & Bowe, of Stockton performed the major architect work. The company's offices are next door to the new theater.

Kathy Miller, executive director of the Downtown Stockton Alliance, said the venue was generating "great excitement" throughout the community even before it opened.

"Residents are thrilled and proud that this unique architectural gem has not only been saved, but restored to its original beauty," Miller said. "Each time I tour the interior of the theater, I am made speechless by the riot of color, the rich glow that only true gold leaf can produce, the meticulous attention to detail and historical accuracy, and the dedication and commitment of city leaders, volunteers and, really, everyone who has worked on this project."

The Fox Theater originally opened on Oct. 14, 1930 as the largest vaudeville house in California at that time. It was built by the Fox West Coast Theatre circuit as one in a chain of 32 California movie palaces.

Stockton's was designed by prominent Los Angeles architects Balch & Stanbery, who designed a number of theaters for the Fox empire, including similar theaters in Pomona and Riverside.

The Stockton theater's first- run films lasted until 1969 when it became a venue for second-run movies. Finally, no longer able to support itself, the theatre closed in 1973. Six years later, the Fox was entered into the National Register of Historical Places.

The new theater plans to offer one to two live events per week. It already has 17 dates booked for concerts and shows, including "Grease," "Riverdance" and "Fiddler on the Roof." David Copperfield is scheduled for Oct. 6.

The Seinfeld show on opening night sold out in a day and a half. Season tickets, too, are selling quickly and the theater is projected to bring hundreds of thousands downtown each year.

"Such high-quality productions will draw audiences from beyond Stockton, throughout the Central Valley, and even the Bay Area," Miller said.