Historic Fox California Theatre

Built in 1927 by Fox - West Coast theatres, the California Theatre was said to be the finest theater in California on its opening day. Designed by the architectural firm of Weeks and Day, it is one of the best preserved examples of late 1920's motion picture houses in the country.

San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and The Packard Humanities Institute shared the costs to rehabilitate and restore the Fox California Theatre as a home for Opera San José and Symphony Silicon Valley.  The theatre will also host a wide variety of other performances including classic and current films showings.

Groundbreaking on the project was October 2001 and re-opened in the spring of 2004. View Bob Shomler's  pictures of the  refurbished interior, historic pipe organ and details on the rehabilitation and expansion work. 

PAC*SJ members John Bondi and Gary Parks have been deeply involved in saving this wonderful structure -- advocating its restoration, presenting possible plans for reuse and defending it against proposed demolition of important interior elements. Their knowledge and tireless work have been invaluable to ensuring that this theater retains its importance.

Encore: Historic Fox California Theatre Making a Comeback in Downtown: by Ellen Garboske

The Fox California Theatre is an important part of San Jose's history. Built in 1927, the theater was an immediate hit with the residents of the Valley farming community. It was a time of transition from vaudeville and silent pictures to the talkies.”

Opening day in April 1927 was a momentous occasion with a myriad of Hollywood stars appearing to help celebrate the opening of the magnificent 1,848-seat theatre. The day before the opening, the San Jose Mercury Herald ran a special supplement devoted to details of the owners, staff, inhouse performers, building features, and praising the music from the “Mighty Wurlitzer.”

The opening day featured film was An Affair of the Follies, starring popular 1920s “It” girl, Billie Dove. The opening was a huge success, and the Fox became the city's primary destination for a mixture of live performances and motion pictures.

By 1932, the theater orchestra was dropped, but the Wurlitzer organ console continued to be raised from the orchestra pit to stage level by elevator, enthralling audiences with its appearance and mighty voice. But in 1937, the organ fell silent, used only for occasional, special presentations. The live prologues were eliminated and a second feature was added to the movie bill. But the Fox, as it became known, was still the place to go for entertainment, and the public reverence for the institution was such that a formal dress for a night at the Fox became customary.

The Fox remained in the forefront, introducing 3D, Cinemascope and other advances to San Jose as soon as they became available. But by the late 1950s, with television available and within the price range of the average citizen, the decline of the great movie palaces became inevitable.

The Fox was sold in 1972, served briefly as a low-budget movie house and later as a rock band concert venue. In 1977, the Fox was sold again, supposedly to be used as a foreign film venue. The economics of this venture failed, the lights were turned off, and the Fox closed its doors seemingly for the last time. The Redevelopment Agency (SJRA) purchased the theater in 1985. The non-profit Theater Foundation of San Jose was hired by SJRA to maintain and manage the theater.  Without their efforts, the theater would have undergone demolition by neglect.

The foundation strived to create interest in saving the theater and presented plans suggesting ways to restore and reuse the building as an entertainment venue. When SJRA planned to install the San Jose Symphony as a tenant, former PAC*SJ board member John Bondi who was involved with the foundation, objected to the demolition of important interior design elements of the building which would have been destroyed to accommodate the symphony. The foundation saved the design elements but shortly thereafter lost their maintenance contract with SJRA.

The rehabilitation, assisted with a Packard Humanities Foundation grant, has once again made the Fox an important entertainment venue for downtown San Jose.  Opera San Jose will be the primary tenant, with opportunities for use by other cultural and performing arts groups as secondary tenants. And the Fox will also serve as a venue for classic films, bringing history full circle.

Groundbreaking ceremonies October 15, 2001 signified both a beginning and an end. They were an emotional and rewarding beginning to the rehabilitation of the glorious Fox California Theatre. They also marked the end of years of struggle by preservationists to save this symbol of cinema’s golden age.

Read more about PAC*SJ's involvement on this renovation project here.

Purchase a coin showing the California Theatre on one side and the Jose Theatre on the other.