Pomona Public Library Image
We were in downtown Pomona last night, grabbing a bite to eat at El Merendero #2 and picking up some panes dulces for breakfast, and we noticed the Fox Theatre sign up and running in blue and red revolving neon. The marquee, too, was lit up and announced that the theater was having its sneak preview fundraiser tonight. It looked like the work wasn't quite complete, but, with all the shiny new neon, you couldn't help but feel transported back 60 or 70 years.
The non-profit Friends of the Fox Theater website tells the event is sold out, but the public will have plenty of opportunities to check out the new old Fox, beginning with the Smogdance Film Festival, which runs April 24-26.
The Daily Bulletin has plenty of coverage, including an an article by David Allen, who details the restoration work, including the job done by Pasadena-based ForSight Creations:
A crane with a 90-foot boom was used last August to haul down the sign, which was taken by the contractor to Pasadena for refurbishment.
ForSight Creations stripped, sandblasted and repainted the red sign. Workers also replaced all the neon, returning its original colors: red on one side, blue on the other.
They also rebuilt the motor that spins the sign, then used a crane to reinstall the sign in November.
ForSight, which in 2001 replicated historic signs at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, also restored the Fox marquee, which dates to 1947.
"It has over 1,100 pieces of new neon in it," ForSight president Rob Jobson said. "It's definitely the old-school theater marquee brought back to life."
John Clifford has more information over at M-M-M-My Pomona, and a comment from Meg says us that Gogol Bordello will be playing at the Fox come May.
Posts
