Fixing The Fox Now Begins The Hard Work Of Restoring Gem Of A Theater

Now that the Spokane Symphony has a $1.1 million contract to purchase the Fox from Regal Cinemas, the hard work of examining the vintage building and its many quirks begins in earnest.

Brenden Plourd, who manages the theater for Regal Cinemas, called the Fox an art deco gem but said it has some maintenance problems.

During his two-year tenure there, he has witnessed a flood that poured out of the upstairs women’s bathroom and down the stairs, and he was almost electrocuted when blue flames shot out of two wall circuits due to faulty wiring - or, Plourd said, by the Fox’s resident ghost.

Although the theater’s lobby and auditorium have undergone several major restorations since the Fox was built in 1931, other areas have been neglected. Backstage, peeling paint and dripping water tarnish the Fox’s forgotten dressing rooms and green room.

“Those are the unique challenges of an ancient building,” Plourd said.

Maintenance issues will be addressed once the symphony has purchased the Fox and begins restoring it. So far there are no hard estimates of what that work will cost, said local developer Ron Wells, whose business Wells & Company is heading up the restoration project.

“The work is just starting,” symphony treasurer Bill Simer said at a Monday rally to officially announce the symphony’s contract with Regal Cinemas.

The sale will be finalized after a 90-day period that the symphony negotiated to study turning the Fox into a concert hall.

Fund-raising to purchase the Fox has already begun. At the rally, symphony staff handed out brochures urging people to save the Fox “one seat at a time.”

Supporters are asked to donate $500 for one of the Fox’s 1,700 seats.

Campaign headquarters is a new symphony office at the Fox, and Spokane Preservation Advocates volunteers will help with the effort.

Symphony president Garry Shea said restoring the Fox is the perfect opportunity to create a first-class concert hall and preserve an architectural gem.

“This will be a community treasure when it’s done,” he said.

And that treasure may come with its own legend - the phantom of the Fox, a rumored ghost that Plourd said has caused some problems for the theater’s staff.

According to Fox Theater lore, the ghost is the specter of a man who plunged from the balcony to his death in the seats below. (A review of The Spokesman-Review’s archives resulted in no reference to such an accident.) Plourd said the phantom most recently acted up when it apparently objected to the 1999 film “Stigmata,” a horror movie about a woman who becomes possessed. Though there was nothing wrong with the movie print, Plourd said that the projector kept jamming.

But, Plourd said, the Fox’s ghost fortuitously likes classical music.

“Judging by some of the music we have to play for the Theater Radio Network during intermissions, he will love it,” Plourd said. “Things tend to go wrong when the teenybopper rap is playing.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: DONATIONS Fund-raising starts

The Spokane Symphony has launched a campaign to raise $1 million to purchase the Fox Theater. For ways to help, call: 458-5923.