Friends of Fox Swing Dance Anniversary Gala

Saturday, April 21--81st Anniversary of the opening of the Pomona Fox Theater and Third Anniversary of the Reopening of the restored theater.

Dinner Tickets available at DPOA or on our Web Site. All Dinner reservations must be made by Tuesday. Price: $45 or $55. Dance / Listening only tickets are $20 and are available online, at DPOA, Frantz Cleaners, Ebell Museum of Pomona Valley or at the door on the night of the event. (Sorry, no dinner tickets available at the door.)

For all the information on this event, visit www.pomonafox.org.

Funds received will be used to restore the original 1931 Gladding McBean drinking fountains which were original to the theater.

Friends of the Pomona Fox FIRST NIGHT!

Friends of the Pomona Fox, has announced that the first event at the newly renovated historic landmark theater will be "Fox First Night" on April 18, beginning at 6:00 pm.

The black tie optional fundraising event, will begin with a red-carpet cocktail reception in front of the theater, which will be bathed in klieg lights. Among the plans for the cocktail hour are celebrity arrivals, live music, the lighting of the marquee and tower sign, and a ribbon cutting to officially open the doors.

After the ribbon cutting, guests will be invited to enter the theater where Safron, the official caterers of the theater venue, will be serving dinner, while guests listen to dinner music. After dinner, there will be a program, still be put together, that will include the premiere screening of the Fox Theater renovation documentary, as well as some other special features. Yes, you won't get away from the mandatory speeches, but the program committee has promised to keep them to a minimum.

After the prepared program, guests will be invited to tour the theater complex and enjoy dessert at a number of the theater's newly restored spaces including the rooftop lounges, tower room, and Flyway Ballroom. In addition, there will be dancing in the main auditorium to a '30s swing band as well as other entertainment.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available. There are a lot of surprises being worked on and we know that this will be an event not to be missed.

There will only be 400 seats availalbe for this event, so it is recommended that you reserve yours as soon as possible. You can order tickets by calling Friends of the Pomona Fox at (909) 753-7903 or you can order and pay online (via PayPal) by visiting the PomonaFox.org web site.

Friends of the Pomona Fox is a dba of Pomona Fox Corporation, the non-profit that was created after the city purchased the building--not part of the current ownership. Funds raised by Friends of the Pomona Fox will be used to purchase historic items for the preservation of the theater. Our initial fundraising is to restore the historic box office, and to purchase chandeliers that are not viable for the developer to purchase, to return the theater to its full historic elegance.

Watt A Wonderful World It Might Be

I had posted this as a comment on the original "Watt, Me Worry" post but Meg felt that it deserved a post of its own so people can better respond to it.
__________________________________________________

As those who were at dba Wednesday night already know, I ended up not attending the Planning Commission meeting. At the mixer earlier, in talking with many of the chamber and downtown business types I learned that Watt didn't care if they got an extension at all. They weren't even going to show up (so why should I--bad idea? perhaps). I understand that they will go through the process all over again.

We really need to keep an eye on this so that any NEW plans for the area don't undo what was agreed to in the past. I have grave worries. Of course, one of the things they won't have to worry about is getting a demolition permit to tear down two blocks of buildings dating from the 1880s to 1920s. That one's been taken care of already. And Pomona gets vacant lots for at least the next couple of years.

I was told that they are planning an Iron Fence for around the 200 block "hole in the ground." that will include panels upon which local artists can paint murals (an idea that came out of the downtown business owners association (DPOA--better known to most of us as "Metro Pomona"). So Mickey Gallivan was right! We'll see years of vacant lots in exchange for destroying our history.

Pomona Photos Survive

A couple of days ago I was aghast when I learned that Ren's Corner had disappeared from the blogosphere. Ren has been providing photos to Goddess of Pomona's site, Pomona Heritage, and Historical Society of the Pomona Valley for most of the past year, so having his blog disappear was disconcerting.

Fortunately, I had his email address and was able to contact him regarding what happened. He and I met yesterday at dba257 (my first meeting with him in person) and I learned what happened. Ren (actually Richard E. Nunez) has some health issues which were being negatively impacted by his working on the computer. The repetitive motion was causing his arms to go numb and he decided that he could no longer maintain the blog. Rather than just let it go dormant as other bloggers do, he was concerned that if it was there that he'd feel compelled to continue to post. So, he unceremoniously shut it down.

However, fear not. He has decided that he can still post his photographs, minus the commentary and it wouldn't cause him health problems. He has created a new blog called Images of Pomona. This blog is dedicated to documenting the things that Ren sees around town. It's only been up for a few days and he already has 83 (and counting) images posted. They cover the gamut from the construction at the Fox, the chalk art on 2nd St., The "swimming pool" that is the Watt project, to a lot of wonderful images of various buildings and things around the city. If you have a chance, take a look at Ren's new home. I, for one, am just happy that he's out there contributing what he can.

Old Home Restoration Workshop--August 9

It's time again for the annual Pomona Heritage Old Home Restoration Workshop. Our 10th workshop will be held on August 9 beginning at 9:00 am and run until 4:00 pm. Additional information is in the press release below:

---

The 10th Annual Pomona Heritage Old Home Restoration Workshop will take place on Saturday, August 9 at Trinity United Methodist Church. The program will begin at 9:00 am and continue until 4:00 pm. The program is made up of a series of seminars (four different ones going on simultaneously) and will include a wide array of information on issues of interest to owners of older homes. In addition, there will be a keynote address at noon on the progress of the restoration of the Pomona Fox Theater, and a special seminar on Pomona’s implementation of the Mills Act.

It was 10 years ago that the board of directors of Pomona Heritage decided to extend their outreach program to the entire community. It was felt that they needed to help in the education of Pomona’s citizenry of the value in protecting the historic fabric of our city and ensure that those who were interested in preserving their homes had the tools to do so in the appropriate manner. Thus was born the Old Home Restoration Workshop.

This year’s workshop will include many favorite seminars from the past along with a several new ones. The workshop committee has put together a program that should have something for everyone who lives in a historic districts, or just lives in an older home and wants to know how do simple repairs. Subjects on tap for this year’s workshop include: Repairing and replacement of wood windows, Herb gardening, Planning your restoration project, Gardening with California native plants, Repairing wood floors, Plaster repair, Repair and maintenance of stained glass windows, and several others not confirmed at press time. A full schedule will be available online at our web site once it has been confirmed.

In addition to learning the important hints and tricks for maintaining and updating your historic home, the workshop will offer the opportunity to meet artisans and craftsmen who can assist in answering questions regarding old homes. Members of the city’s building, code enforcement, and planning staff will be available as will artists from Red Wing Glass, Dominguez Floors, and many others.

With the recent revamping of Pomona’s version of the Mills Act, city planners Sandra Campbell and Judy Kollar will be presenting a seminar on how the Mills Act works and what the procedures are for those interested in taking advantage of the potential 40-60% tax savings that the act provides for the renovation and maintenance of historic properties in the city of Pomona. For those planning on ever doing a major renovation project, this seminar is a must as it will show how a good, historically sensitive renovation can be done, using tax savings to do it.

Each year the Restoration Workshop looks for a keynote speaker of general interest to the entire community. In 2007 Jerry Tessier gave a presentation of the plans for the full restoration of the National Register Landmark Pomona Fox Theater. This year, with construction well underway, Ed Tessier has agreed to present an update on the progress being made and a look ahead at what can be expected for the Fox. The focus will be on the challenges of a large-scale historic restoration project and how many of those challenges have been handled. With historic tax credits as one of their methods of funding, all work on the Fox must be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the National Parks Service of the US Department of the Interior. This is a project that goes will beyond requirements of city codes and should give interesting insights into to how such projects move forward.

“This is our most important educational outreach program of the year,” stated Mark Gearhart, Pomona Heritage board member and chairman of the Restoration Workshop committee. “We offer this as a way to let the greater community understand the importance of the proper repair and maintenance of Pomona’s important historic resources. We invite everyone in the city to come, learn about historic preservation, and, hopefully, make their homes and our entire city environment better.”

In addition to the seminars, a Silent Auction will be held during the course of the day’s activities. It will include a wide array of goods and services geared specifically toward old home renovation and decorating. For additional information, and a full schedule of seminars, as they become available, please visit our web site at http://www.pomonaheritage.org and click on the Restoration Workshop button at the left.