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VISALIA HERITAGE HAPPENINGS

Excerpts from our
2024 Newsletters

HISTORIC FOX THEATRE TOUR
Here’s Your Chance to Learn All About the
Visalia Fox Theatre

By Donna Orozco

When I volunteer at the Visalia Fox Theatre, I love watching new people look around in awe at the elephant motif in the lobby and the East Indian décor in the theater. They’re always amazed when I tell them all that “wood” is really plaster (done that way for fire protection). Terry Ommen, local historian who did so much research when the Fox was restored to its former glory in the late 1990s, says he often gets questions about the Historic Fox Theatre. And now visitors have a chance to have those questions answered while they climb up into the old projection booth (why is there a toilet up there?) and see the old lighting equipment on stage. Visalia Heritage, the non-profit historic preservation group that is working to establish a Visalia museum, has gotten permission from the Fox Theatre to host a guided tour of the Fox on Saturday, Aug. 3rd. Click here for Fox Theatre Tour details

Behind-the-scenes
The tour will begin outside in the breezeway, where guests will learn that the historic Fox was actually the second Fox Theatre in town. They’ll get the story behind the clock tower that is one of the icons of Visalia (still included in the new city logo) and why that darned clock has never run right. Then it’s into the lobby to count all those elephants on the beams and discover why the lobby is so small for a theater that holds over 1,200 people. Next it’s up to the balcony and further on to the old projection booth to learn how the old movie reels were loaded onto the big projectors, see where the stars in the auditorium are turned on, and get a feeling of what it is like to climb the steep ladder into the ceiling where the bulbs to the stars are replaced. Ommen himself will tell you all about the theater auditorium, the chambers that hold all the organ pipes and the original “air cooling” system (back in the days before air-conditioning, the local police officers would visit the Fox just to cool off). You’ll learn about the Fox organ and how the genie face above the proscenium was recreated by Jaime Hitchcock from a fuzzy old black-and white picture while he was up on a scaffold in the pitch-black theater. The face had been destroyed when the theater was triplexed in 1976. Little by little, Hitchcock is still bringing back arches, stenciling and other detailing features of the original ornate theater. Then visitors will be invited to have their moment on stage. The view of all the seats is very different up stage, and those on the tour will go backstage to see all the old pulleys and lighting equipment that is still there from when the theater first opened in 1930.

Fox History
A lot of people were energized to “save the Fox” in 1996 when the Fox Theatre announced it was closing. So many of them had favorite stories about having their first kiss up in the balcony or sneaking in their friends through the alley door. Right after the theater closed, Friends of the Fox was formed to make sure the building wasn’t torn down or turned into a pizza parlor (one of the proposals suggested at the time). When at last the three out-of-town owners donated the theater to Friends of the Fox, the marquee proclaimed “Miracle on Main Street.” Hundreds of people donated money, materials and labor to restore the Fox. It wasn’t quite finished when it reopened in 1999 and still needs a number of upgrades because some of that old 1930 equipment is still being used. For those who want to learn more about the historic building, the Fox Theatre has two books written after the restoration that will be on sale during the tour.

VISALIA’S LEGACY TREE
WILL BE COMING DOWN

The 2016 Centennial celebration of the National Park Service was the starting point for the Sequoia Legacy Tree. Historian Terry Ommen noted that the Sequoia tree planted on the site of the Downtown post office would be a great tribute and education about the connection between Visalia and Sequoia National Park. The tree, a 3-year-old Sequoia sapling from the Grant Grove, was planted 80 years earlier by Superintendent Guy Hopping of General Grant National Park (which in 1940 became Kings Canyon NP) and Visalia Post Master Nathan Levy. 

Visit Visalia took on the project. Though the condition of the tree at the start of the project was rated as only “fair,” it was thought that the city should honor this gem for its remaining time, said Suzanne Bianco, Tourism Marketing Director of Visit Visalia.

Unfortunately, that time has come. Despite treatment, the tree will not recover (Sequoias don’t grow well in this climate), and the tree will be removed this fall.

Visit Visalia will continue to maintain the site and is looking for ideas of how to replace the tree. Contact them with your ideas at info@visitvisalia.com. 

Read more about the Sequoia Legacy Tree

HISTORY HUNT
For the Secrets of Downtown Visalia

THANK YOU TO
Event Host: Visit Visalia
and
Event Prize Sponsors:
Arts Visalia, Fugazzi’s, Taylor’s Hot Dogs, Sequoia Brewing Company

Historic Homes on Display at Christmas Party

Visalia Heritage members were invited to a Christmas Party to tour three beautiful historic homes within a block of each other. On the tour was the Hannah-Hyde House (ca. 1888), now owned by preservationists Joshua Cain and Andre Reyes, who are restoring it to become a bed & breakfast plus weddings and events venue. Previous owners left all the original wallpaper, handrails and windows. Some guests noticed a tiny bathroom off the front porch, obviously not original. 

Next was the Lawrence House (1910), which has been meticulously restored by Tyler Davis. Two of the Lawrence’s granddaughters were on hand to talk about the home’s history. The granddaughters recalled the fun times they had in the house when it was located a few blocks away, before it was moved when the library was expanded, and how the front side room had been their grandfather’s office. 

Also on the tour was the Askin Cottage (ca. 1890), beautifully restored and now the home of RPS Real Estate.

Simpsons Honored for Land Donation

At the Christmas party Visalia Heritage Walter Deissler presented Stan and Wendy Simpson were with a life membership to Visalia Heritage. Their generous donation of a lot on Murray is an anchor toward the creation of a Visalia history museum and cultural center.

Visalia Heritage Creates a Museum at The Lofts

Members of Visalia Heritage once had dreams of recreating Fort Visalia, the site where Visalia began in 1852. Some of their dreams were realized when they designed the Fort Visalia Heritage Room at The Lofts at Fort Visalia, which opened in December.
 
Self-Help, which built the low-income housing complex, wanted to honor the importance of the site, so they named it The Lofts at Fort Visalia and invited Visalia Heritage to create a small museum in the lobby, which includes a diorama of what we think the fort looked like and historic photographs of early Visalia.

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2024 VISALIA HERITAGE NEWSLETTERS