Photo credit: John Moore
History of the Aurora Fox (and beyond!)
The Aurora Fox Arts Center was originally built in 1946. The theatre was Aurora’s only “movie palace” serving the needs of a growing population, including the military personnel stationed at Fitzsimons Army Hospital and Lowry Air Force Base.
With its Art Moderne entrance and 61-foot neon sign, the Fox Theater was a popular destination for children and adults throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The 1970s, however, witnessed a period of decline for the Fox as new commercial areas opened and people began flocking to these new shopping centers with acres of parking and improved movie houses.
The fate of the Fox as a movie theater was sealed in 1981 when a sudden inferno engulfed the theatre, causing extensive fire and water damage. The community was not ready to say goodbye to their theatre, however, and between 1983 and 1985, civic groups and private companies joined forces with the city of Aurora to fund a restoration and rehabilitation of the space. The building reopened on March 8, 1985 as the Aurora Fox Arts Center, and has been the permanent home to the Aurora Fox Theater Company, as well as rental home to several local performing arts organizations, ever since.
Today, the Aurora Fox Arts Center is recognized as an award-winning professional theatre company operated by the city of Aurora’s Library & Cultural Services Division. The Fox (which is the abbreviated named for both the building and the city-run theater company in residence there) is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Small Professional Theater Tier 1. The theater employs seven full-time staff and includes two performance spaces: a 242-seat proscenium theater and a 72-seat corner thrust black box “studio” theater. Operations include a season of six fully produced shows, a summer children’s theater program, various classes and other special programming, employing approximately 200 local theatre artists each year. The Aurora Fox is committed to the celebration of diversity and authentic representation in our selection of plays, our casting process, and our pursuit of theatrical innovations.
Keeping History Alive
Beginning in late 2023, the City of Aurora and Fox Theatre began a series of renovations and restorations designed to upgrade the facility while maintaining its historic importance to the Colfax corridor. A complete restoration of the Fox’s iconic neon sign will be completed in June 2024, and a replacement of all of the seating and carpets in the mainstage theatre is scheduled for later in the summer. Future projects are also underway to ensure safety, accessibility, and a more enjoyable experience for our patrons—for most importantly, the beloved Fox truly is the community’s theatre.
City of Aurora Historic Preservation Specialist Chris Geddes talks about the excitement around the Fox’s iconic sign renovation.
