Fox Theater
Robert C. Reamer’s 1931 Art Deco theater at Sprague Avenue and Monroe Street in Spokane presents one of the Pacific Northwest’s most complete Art Deco theater environments: a sixty-foot etched-glass-and-plaster sunburst chandelier, incised concrete eagles and butterfly motifs on the exterior, and an interior that fuses rectangular Art Deco geometry with the flowing ornament of Art Nouveau in a synthesis unique to its moment.
At a glance
The Fox Theater at 1001 West Sprague Avenue in Spokane, Washington opened on September 3, 1931, designed by architect Robert C. Reamer. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 2001, the building is a significant example of Art Deco theater architecture in the Pacific Northwest. The exterior is concrete with incised bas-relief ornamentation including stylized eagles on the Sprague Avenue facade and butterfly motifs fronting Monroe Street. The interior features a sixty-foot-wide central light fixture of etched glass and plaster in a sunburst shape, flanked by nine smaller chandeliers, and hand-painted murals depicting underwater flora and celestial imagery. Wikipedia describes the interior as a fusion of “rectangular Art Deco angles” with “classical flowing Art Nouveau style,” with aluminum and glass used in place of traditional marble and wood.
Key facts
- Opened: September 3, 1931
- Architect: Robert C. Reamer
- Style: Art Deco
- Address: 1001 W. Sprague Avenue, Spokane, Washington 99201
- NRHP: ref. 01001287, listed 30 November 2001
- Exterior: Concrete with incised bas-relief; stylized eagles (Sprague Ave.); butterfly motifs (Monroe St.)
- Interior: 60-foot sunburst chandelier; hand-painted murals; aluminum and glass in place of marble and wood
History
Robert C. Reamer (1873–1938) is best known for his work in Yellowstone National Park, where he designed the Old Faithful Inn (1903–1904), the Lake Hotel (1891 original, major additions 1903–1922), and the Canyon Hotel (1911) in the rustic style that defined the National Park aesthetic of the Progressive Era. The Fox Theater commission in Spokane represents a departure from that rustic tradition into the Art Deco vocabulary that dominated commercial and entertainment architecture in the late 1920s and early 1930s, showing Reamer’s range and his ability to move between the very different architectural demands of wilderness resort design and urban entertainment architecture.
Spokane in 1931 was a regional commercial and cultural center for the inland Pacific Northwest, a position it had held since the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads converged there in the 1880s. The Fox Theater was built during the first years of the sound film era, when theater owners across America were investing in new facilities designed specifically for the talkies—larger, more acoustically sophisticated spaces with the ornamental splendor that the movies had come to promise their audiences. The Fox’s opening in September 1931 came during the deepening Depression, when theatrical spectacle was both a commercial necessity for film companies and a psychological necessity for audiences.
The NRHP listing in 2001 recognized the theater as a significant example of Art Deco entertainment architecture in Washington State and a document of Reamer’s breadth as an architect. The building continues to serve as a performing arts venue in Spokane’s downtown cultural district.
What you see
The Fox Theater’s concrete facade is organized by the incised bas-relief ornament that characterizes the Art Deco vocabulary at its most confident: stylized eagles on the Sprague Avenue facade read as heraldic emblems of the entertainment palace’s civic ambition, while the butterfly motifs on the Monroe Street elevation bring a more delicate naturalistic vocabulary to the side facade. The contrast between the two facades is unusual and reflects Reamer’s interest in adapting the ornamental program to the specific conditions of each street.
The interior is where the building’s Art Deco character reaches its most spectacular expression. The sixty-foot central chandelier—etched glass and plaster in the sunburst form that is the Art Deco era’s most emblematic ornamental shape—dominates the auditorium ceiling and flanks nine smaller chandeliers in a lighting composition of theatrical scale. The murals depicting underwater flora and celestial imagery bring a dreamy symbolic register to the entertainment environment. Wikipedia’s description of the interior as fusing “rectangular Art Deco angles” with “classical flowing Art Nouveau style” captures the building’s position at the cusp between two ornamental traditions that the Art Deco period synthesized rather than resolved.
Practical information
- Status: Active performing arts venue; check schedule for public events and tours
- Exterior: Freely viewable from Sprague Avenue and Monroe Street; the incised concrete ornament is legible from the sidewalk
- Interior access: Via ticketed events and scheduled tours; check the Fox Theater Spokane website
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes exterior; interior tours add 45 minutes
Getting there
The Fox Theater is at 1001 West Sprague Avenue in central Spokane, three blocks west of the main Spokane station and adjacent to the Spokane Convention Center. Spokane International Airport is 5 miles west. I-90 serves Spokane from west (Seattle, 280 miles) and east (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 30 miles). The Fox is in the heart of Spokane’s West Central Theater District, within walking distance of the Spokane River and Riverfront Park.
Nearby
- Spokane Civic Theatre (1915) — 2 blocks north; one of the oldest continuously operating community theater companies in the Pacific Northwest
- Riverfront Park — 2 blocks north; 100-acre urban park on the Spokane River occupying the site of the 1974 World’s Fair (Expo ’74); Spokane Falls overlook
- Washington Cracker Company Building (1890) — 0.4 miles west; massive historic industrial complex being converted to residential and commercial use
- Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena — 0.3 miles west; 12,500-seat arena opened 1995
Sources
- Wikipedia, “Fox Theater (Spokane)” — primary narrative source
- National Register of Historic Places, ref. 01001287 (30 November 2001)
- Wikimedia Commons, Fox_Theater_Sprague_Avenue_Monroe_Street_Spokane_WA (CC BY 4.0)
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