
How the Fox Became Fabulous
In 1928, the Shriners were looking to build new headquarters and chose a spot on Atlanta’s famous Peachtree St. Not long after they broke ground, they burned through their budget and realized they needed to partner with someone to complete the project. Enter movie mogul William Fox, who knew opportunity when he saw it. His empire of Fox theaters numbered in the hundreds across the nation, and he needed Southern exposure and a venue to host his movies. He stepped in and got his movie auditorium, and the Shriners got their offices and ballroom for functions and entertaining.
In an omen of things to come, the Fox Theatre opened its doors to anxious Atlanta audiences on Christmas Day, 1929, as the Great Depression was getting traction. The Moorish architecture outside was just a hint of what was to come when you stepped inside. If movies were meant to entertain and “carry you away,” then the Fox Theatre was the vehicle you wanted to depart on.
Within three years after opening, the $3 million building was auctioned off on the courthouse steps for $75,000. It maintained its status as a movie and entertainment theater, and hundreds of thousands still have fond memories of their time spent in that surreal room. Over the years it attracted the headliners of the day: Sinatra, Abbot & Costello, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Doris Day, John Wayne and FDR, to name a few. It became a favorite concert venue. Elvis created pandemonium in the mid-50’s. Springsteen was packing them in for $8.50 a ticket in ’78, before he was The Boss. Also in ’78, the Rolling Stones wanted a break from the mega venues and hosted a concert under the name of The Cockroaches for $10 a pop. More recently it was the site of Prince’s last concert before his untimely death.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Fox. I mentioned earlier that the number of Fox theaters in the ’20s and ’30s numbered in the hundreds. Today, there’s fewer than 10, and our Fox is lucky to be in that group. Had it not been for a group who had fond memories of their times in the Fox and their willingness to dig in their heels, its Moorish façade and lavish interior would have been replaced with …. a damn parking lot. Yep, I’m not kidding. I swear there are developers that would pave over their granny’s grave to make a few bucks. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.
Atlanta’s 90-Year-Old Rock Star: Mighty Mo
‘Live and Onstage at the Fox!’
As with all of my preservation projects, the orders were no sanding and no loss of original material. This is what I developed Passive Refinishing for, so that’s what Jenna Novic, my business partner, and I did. Mo’s platform measured less than 100 square feet, so the work went quickly. Using chemicals and synthetic pads, we removed the 90-year-old coatings, and the quartersawn pine looked every bit as good as it did in 1929. There were a few shadows where additional finishes had been put down over the years, and on the rear of the platform was a very noticeable shadow from excessive original finish that had been allowed to pool. Jenna handles wood repairs, and she tidied up some rough edges on one of the openings with some very nice quartersawn pine that seemed to be made for the repair.
Once we completed our removal of surface accumulations, it was time for the application of a new finish. I’ve had tremendous success working with Pallmann’s Magic Oil in similar situations, and it proved to be the right choice again. We buffed in multiple applications till we got a nice rich luster.
The project had a surreal feel, as all the work was done at stage level in a completely empty theater. Leigh Burns, director of the Fox Theatre Institute, and her workers could not have been more accommodating. Because of COVID, we had the run of the place and were told go anywhere we wanted to in the cavernous building. If the door was unlocked, we just kept exploring. And the few people around were glad to unlock any door and give us a behind-the-scenes tour we’ll never forget.
I’ve lived in Atlanta for 50-plus years and been to the Fox many times for concerts, movies and tours. Each time I go is a memorable time. This old building doesn’t get old; it just gets better.