Teatro Fox Delicias

Teatro Fox Delicias

Teatro Fox Delicias
Address 6963 Isabel Street
Location Ponce, Puerto Rico
Coordinates 18°00′46″N 66°36′51″W / 18.0128°N 66.6142°W / 18.0128; -66.6142
Owner Pedro Juan Serrallés (1928-1989)
Ruberte Family (1990 - )
Type Theater (1931-1980)
Mall (1991-1998)
Hotel (2004-ca. 2010)
Today: unused
Construction
Built 1920s
Opened 1931
Renovated 1990 (into a Mall)
2003 (into a Hotel)
Closed 1980
Construction cost $3M (1990 renovation into a mall)
Architect Francisco Porrata Doria (theater design)
Axel Bonilla (mall design)
Tenants
Currently unused

Teatro Fox Delicias is a historic building in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1931,[1] it originally housed a movie house until 1980, from 1991 to 1998 it house a shopping mall, and stating in 2004 it housed a boutique hotel. Its architecture is Art Deco.

Location

The historic structure is located across the historic Plaza Las Delicias in the heart of the Ponce Historic Zone. Its location just north of Plaza Las Delicias makes it part of barrio Segundo.

Design

The building was designed by Francisco Porrata-Doria, who also designed Hotel Melia, Banco de Ponce and many other structures in Puerto Rico.[2] The building bears an Art Deco architectural structure with an impressive multi-level front facade.[3]

History

Theater

The theater had its origins in the late 1920s when Pedro Juan Serralles purchased a piece of land in the center of the city to build the first movie theater in Ponce. The structure was completed in 1931. The owners contracted with Twentieth Century Fox for showing the movies. Given the movie contract and the location of the theater, it was named Teatro Fox Delicias.[4] It closed its doors as a movie theater in 1980.

Mall

After serving Ponce moviegoers for some five decades, the building was sold to the Ruberté family. In 1989 the theater was converted into a mall under the design of architect Axel Bonilla. It was named the Fox Delicias Mall.[5] The new mall opened in March, 1991. It had 26 commercial spaces ranging from 300 square feet (28 m2) to 1,200 square feet (110 m2). It also had a cafe-theater. The total space was 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2). Its president is Eduardo Ruberte Huertas. Its renovation lasted a year and cost $3 million.[6]

Hotel

In 2004 the building started conversion into a hotel.[7][8] The boutique hotel had 30 rooms. The new hotel opened in 2004.[9] While it operated as a hotel, the structure continued to experience a flow of non-resident tourists.[10] It closed around 2010 and has since remained vacant.

Other area theaters

After Teatro Fox Delicias, a number of theaters opened throughout the city, most of which became known for their architecture. Among these were

See also

References

  1. ↑ Teatro Fox Delicias Accessed January 23, 2011.
  2. ↑ Reseña Biografica de Francisco Porrata-Doria.
  3. ↑ University Press of Florida
  4. ↑ Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Accessed January 23, 2011.
  5. ↑ Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Accessed January 23, 2011.
  6. ↑ Legendary Fox Delicias to be shopping mall. Accessed January 23, 2011.
  7. ↑ Puerto Rico Off the Beaten Path. 5th Edition. Tina Cohen and Ron Bernthal. Page 91.
  8. ↑ Teatro Fox Delicias. Frommer's Puerto Rico. Walking Tour of Ponce.
  9. ↑ Panoramio photo of Transition from mall to hotel.
  10. ↑ Redescubre a la Perla del Sur el Fondo de Mejoramiento. Carmen Cila Rodriguez. La Perla del Sur. Year 27. Issue 1345. pp. 20-21. 9 September 2009. Accessed 5 May 2016.
  11. ↑ ArtDeco en Ponce. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  12. ↑ ArtDeco en Ponce. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  13. ↑ Ponce: Disfrutalo: Galeria de Fotos: Fotos Antiguas: Image 33 of 85. Ponce Municipal Government. Official Website. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  14. ↑ Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Breviario sobre la Historia de Ponce. 2nd ed. 2002. Page 120. Bayamon, PR: Impress Quality Printing. ISBN 0-615-12181-0.
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