The early 1970s were a difficult time for Midtown Atlanta as residents were fleeing to the suburbs. The deteriorating Fox Theatre was no longer a go-to place for movies. In 1974, owner Mosque Inc. was in talks to sell the land to Southern Bell, which planned to tear the building down for an office tower and parking lot.
But even in a city known for looking forward more than backward, razing this stellar Moorish architectural gem built in 1929 was a step too far.
“Native Atlantans were watching downtown Atlanta being dismantled,” said Leigh Burns, director of community partnerships for the Fox. “This became a line in the sand.”
A grassroots Save the Fox campaign quickly formed. A public hearing at the Fox conducted at the theater by the Georgia Senate Tourism Committee drew 2,500 concerned citizens. Organist Bob Van Camp played music on the Mighty Mo, the 3,622-pipe Möller Deluxe theater organ inside the Fox. Dressed in a dapper white suit, caretaker Joe Patten, who lived in an apartment in the Fox for decades until his death in 2016 and was known as “the Phantom of the Fox,” touted the magic of the building.
Credit: FOX E
Credit: FOX E
Mayor Maynard Jackson intervened, preventing a demolition permit from being issued. Patten recruited a group of preservation-minded Atlantans to create the nonprofit group Atlanta Landmarks. In 1975, while the theater closed down for nine months, the organization negotiated a land swap with Southern Bell, which erected a 47-story skyscraper next door on West Peachtree Street instead. (Now called Tower Square, the building sits empty.)
“It was a complicated deal I worked on for more than seven months,” said Joe Myers, a former Atlanta real estate lawyer now retired in Asheville, North Carolina. “We had to buy nine plots of land around the Fox and swap them with Southern Bell. It was a long shot, but we made it work.” (Myers’ son Jay is now on the board of the Fox Theatre.)
To cover the cost, Atlanta Landmarks borrowed $3.8 million from several banks that had to be paid off by 1978. This led to frantic and often creative fundraising efforts once the theater reopened in October 1975.
School children held bake sales and penny drives. Restaurants hosted special days and gave cuts of their revenues. Thousands of “Save the Fox” T-shirts and bumper stickers were sold. Billboards adorned highways. Lynyrd Skynyrd played three benefit concerts at the Fox that became a successful live album.
Credit: FOX THEATRE ARCHIVE
Credit: FOX THEATRE ARCHIVE
Credit: FOX THEATRE ARCHIVES COLLECTION
Credit: FOX THEATRE ARCHIVES COLLECTION
In 1976, Carolyn Mills was given paid time off from Eastern Airlines as a communications director to organize a benefit for the Fox featuring Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum figures such as Mae West and Humphrey Bogart and a male fashion show with Atlanta Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski and UGA football coach Vince Dooley, among others, walking the runway.
Bit by bit, it worked.
“We were able to make the Fox grand again,” said Mills, 88, who recalls seeing Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis live on stage at the Fox as a teenager. She has been there hundreds of times since, most recently for opening night of “The Book of Mormon” in June.
The theater’s origins begin with the Shriners, a growing Freemason fraternal organization, that began building the structure as its local headquarters with an ambitious Middle Eastern mosque motif. But costs escalated and movie mogul William Fox helped save the day, pouring in the remainder of the overall cost of $3 million (or $56 million in 2025 dollars.) The Fox Film studio founder owned a chain of Fox theaters across the country at the time.
The Fox opened as a movie palace with great fanfare on Christmas Day 1929, introducing “Steamboat Willie,” Disney’s first cartoon with Mickey Mouse. It thrived for decades, hosting not just first-run movies but opera performances and acts like Elvis Presley and Nelson Eddy.
Credit: ATLANTA JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Credit: ATLANTA JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Credit: FOX THEATRE
Credit: FOX THEATRE
Fast forward to the mid-’70s, and Fox’s colorful history helped seal the deal with donors, who poured cash into the campaign to save the theater.
The mortgage was paid off four months ahead of time in early 1978, a final $100,000 donation from Gov. George Busbee putting them over the top. To celebrate, the Fox held a free open house and concert with Camp, the organist.
Since it reopened, the Fox has been a magnet for live performances and has turned a profit each year. Broadway shows flock there. Local acts such as the B-52s, R.E.M. and Jeff Foxworthy have headlined many times while international icons like the Rolling Stones and Prince (including his final shows in 2016) made multiple visits.
The Fox generated its highest annual revenue to date when it brought in $41.4 million against $29.4 million in expenses for the fiscal year that ended June 20, 2024, according to its 2024 financial statement provided to the federal government.
But keeping the Fox in tiptop shape has never been a cheap endeavor. For years, a portion of ticket sales was set aside for a “Save the Fox” fund.
Millions have been spent to renovate and maintain the intricate space including the gilded minarets on the roof, the grand arcade and the ornate starry night ceiling inside the auditorium.
Credit: ATLANTA JOURNA
Credit: ATLANTA JOURNA
Today, the upkeep of the building is incorporated in a facilities and preservation fund, costing the Fox $1.5 million to $2.8 million a year.
“Every time it rains, we have to check the roof for leaks,” Burns said. “We have a restoration manager and conservation team. They regularly check the plaster. You need specialists who know how to do the paint correctly and restore and replace original glass.”
Given the fragility of the items in the building, the temperature and humidity is monitored 24/7.
Fortunately, the Fox remains busy. It’s one of the top grossing theaters of its size in the country, holding more than 300 events a year, from proms and weddings to Broadway musicals, rock concerts and comedy shows.
“There’s an expectation from the Atlanta community that we be successful,” said Burns, an Atlanta native who has worked at the Fox since 2017. “Failure has never been an option. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/
With a seating capacity of 4,665, The Fox now has more rivals than ever. The Roxy at the Battery (capacity: 3,600) opened in 2017. The Eastern in Reynoldstown (2,200) opened in 2021. Live Nation is planning a 5,300-seat entertainment venue in downtown Atlanta, slated to open in 2027.
“We welcome the competition,” said Jamie Vosmeier, vice president of sales and marketing. “There are venues close to our size, but nobody can match the experience.”
The Fox isn’t resting on its laurels. It invested millions to build out the 10,000-square-foot Marquee Club in 2018, taking over space once housed by jazz club Churchill Grounds to create a special VIP experience for patrons to eat and drink before and after events. It spent $500,000 revamping the Mighty Mo organ in 2020.
And it has continued to expand Fox Gives, a fund it created in 2008 that distributes grants to other historic theaters in the state with a “pay it forward”-style ethos. Over 17 years, it has contributed $4.2 million to 70 theaters including the Plaza Theatre in Poncey-Highland and 7 Stages in Little Five Points.
Credit: Courtesy of
Credit: Courtesy of
Credit: Courtesy of Fox Theat
Credit: Courtesy of Fox Theat
In 2022, the Fox introduced an annual Archives Day in its Egyptian Ballroom and neighboring Grand Salon. This year’s event is scheduled for Sunday Aug. 10, enabling entrants to hear from experts about how the Fox maintains the building and see artifacts up close. The event now draws about 250 curiosity seekers.
“They have a fabulous collection,” said Paul Crater, vice president of collections and research services for the Atlanta History Center, which collaborates with the Fox on the event. “Everything is kept in a security climate-controlled area. They track everything in a database. Everything is cataloged. Everything they deem a collectible item is preserved.”
Burns said they love showing off the Fox’s original furniture, “the largest intact collection among any of the Fox theaters out there. We are effectively a living museum our patrons can enjoy.”
Credit: Courtesy of the Fox Theatre'
Credit: Courtesy of the Fox Theatre'
Event preview
Fox Theatre Archives Day. 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 10, $57.50, the Grand Salon and Egyptian Ballroom at the Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, www.foxtheatre.org
MORE FOX EVENTS
Coca-Cola Film Series: “Star Wars: A New Hope.” 7:30 p.m. July 25. $22.
Young Jeezy with Color of Noize Orchestra. 8 p.m. July 26. $188 and up.
Coca-Cola Film Series: “Sound of Music” Sing-a-Long. 4 p.m. July 27. $21 and up.
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