Oakland Plans Movie House Rehab

OAKLAND-An effort to restore the 73-year-old Fox Theater in the heart of downtown Oakland moves forward this week when the city council hears its options for refurbishing the former movie and vaudeville house. The master plan for renovating and reopening the facility after 30 years will be ready by the middle of May.

Jeff Chew, project manager with the city’s community and economic development agency, is the one presenting the city council with its options. Chew says the favored option is to use the 2,500-plus-seat theater for a performing arts center and to develop the surrounding 50,000 sf into related office and retail space.

The theater was constructed in 1928 and used both as a movie house and a vaudeville stage. The auditorium is surrounded by a U-shaped building that house about 30,000 sf of office space and about 20,000 sf for retail with the possibility of adding space by building up on the surrounding space. There are also other buildings in the area, which could be developed as retail or mixed-use operations.