Sidney FOX Theatre
The Fox Theatre, located at 1120 Illinois Street in downtown Sidney, originally opened as a single screen 950 seat theatre on October 16th, 1951. It was a replacement to the earlier USA/Fox Theatre located down the street at 1020 Illinois Street. The theatre was built for Fox Intermountain Amusement Corp. The architect was C.D. Strong and the designer was Mell C. Glatz. It was a quonset hut style building with a rustic style décor. All seating was on a single level. An unusual feature was the projection booth located above the concession stand, which had large windows allowing people to see directly into the booth.
On opening night, Rex Allen was on hand.
In the 70’s, Denny and Sherry DeNovellis, owners of the Fox Theatre at the time, turned the single screen auditorium into a twin movie theatre. It now seats 200 people per side.
After several attempts to keep the movie theatre open, the American National Bank claimed bankruptcy on it. It was closed for several years during the 80’s. In 1987, the American National Bank in Sidney took a chance on a young man from Delta, Colorado, John Phillips, who still owns and operates the Fox Theatre today.
In October of 2013, the theatre went completely digital to abide by the film industries wishes.
John, and his wife, Kim, are longest running owners of the theatre. They celebrated 30 years in 2017. The Fox Theatre currently employs ten individuals.
About
“Unlike all the other art forms, film is able to seize and render the passage of time, to stop it, almost to possess it in infinity. I’d say that film is the sculpting of time.”
– Andrei Tarkovsky