SeattleChange
809 East Olive Avenue, Fresno, CA
The theater is located in a part of Fresno that had been developing into a shopping area since about 1923. Discussions of building a theater in the neighborhood began as early as 1927 The first of three proposals for a theater was made on December 3, 1938, published in The Fresno Bee.Fox West Coast Theater Corporation, in cooperation with A. Emory Wishon, proposed a $200,000 theater similar to the S. Charles Lee-designed Ritz Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles. The project would be built on the whole block at the northwest corner of Olive and Wishon Avenues. The property was owned by the Wishon Estate and was a playground at the time. A second proposal was made for a larger structure to be built, also on the Wishon property.