Aurora Fox Arts Center
9900 E. Colfax Avenue,
Aurora,
CO
80010
9900 E. Colfax Avenue,
Aurora,
CO
80010
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 15 comments
Grand opening ad posted. It opened as the “Theatre of Tomorrow”
I’ve put together a booking history for the Fox Aurora, from 1946 up to 1978 so far, in case anyone might like to know when a particular movie played there. I’ll be happy to share my research with you. Take care – Ken Mitchell ()
I am putting together a series of books on the Denver area’s drive-ins and indoor moviehouses – including a full booking history of the Fox Aurora. If anyone has questions on the subject, feel free to contact me at and I’ll be happy to share my research with you. Thanks – Ken Mitchell
1950’s photo added courtesy of The Denver Eye Facebook page.
Nice photos looks like they are fixing her up.
Do they light the Fox name at night?
That comment should read page 265, which is page 23 of the Modern Theatre section. There are two additional photos on the following page. Issuu renumbers the pages for the digital version.
Photos of the Fox appear on page 271 of the November 15, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The original auditorium, like its replacement, was a quonset structure, but Charles D. Strong’s designs for the facade and decoration were all decidedly Moderne.
Here’s the official website of the Aurora Fox.
It says (among other things) that the theatre was designed by Denver architect Charles Strong; was operated by the Fox Intermountain Amusement Company; was opened on October 30, 1946; closed as movie theatre following a fire on November 18, 1981; was renovated for use as an arts center in 1984. It also says that the original auditorium was, like its replacement, a quonset structure.
Quite a few quonset-style theatres were built in the late 1940s. I know of three that were built in the San Gabriel Valley area est of Los Angeles alone: Clarence J. Smale’s Colorado Theatrein Pasadena, and S. Charles Lee’s Star Theatre in La Puente and Garmar Theatre in Montebello. Cinema Treasures currently lists 47 theatres as being in quonsets (the Aurora Fox is not yet on the list, by the way), and is probably missing about as many.
“Quonset huts” were a WW2 invention, prefabricated steel structures built in ever-expanding domed hemispherical sections. In the immediate aftermath of the war they were an obvious way for enterprising ex-servicemen to start up businesses, and neighborhood movie theatres, then, seemed like a hot idea. How the Aurora house got to be a “Fox” house, though, suggests that Hollywood might have been thinking in such terms as well. Any thoughts, Mr. O'Malley?
Aurora Fox Arts Center
Address: 9900 E Colfax Ave
Phone: 303.361.2910
Description: Named Best Season for a Local Theatre Company (Westword, Best of Denver, June 29, 2000), the Aurora Fox Arts Center offers an array of entertainment for all ages. Call the box office for a schedule, rates and subscriber information. Plays, Musicals, Children’s Theater, Concerts, Guest Artists Performing Arts Classes, including Young Actor’s Workshop Discounts available for students, season subscribers and groups
I saw several plays at this theater, and a nice Alfred Hitchcock festivale here to!
I’m now living in Southern California, but I grew up in Denver, and the Fox was one of the theaters my mom used to keep in her movie rotation. It was either the Bluebird, The Ogden Theater, the Mayan Theater and the Gothic. All these were great movie houses. I can’t recall how many times my brother and I used to go see movies at the Fox. It was a great theater, and during Halloween, the mangement would offer a “spook night,” and show horror movies from midnight till 3 a.m. Great memories.
Is this the theater that is a quonset hut?
The Aurora Fox Center Theatre is located at 9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora , CO, 80010. The phone numbers are (303) 361-2910 , (303) 361-2909 fax. e-mail info:
The Fox Aurora Theatre seated 673 people when it was a movie theatre.
I am interetsted in finding out how one goes about renting this theater???