The first theater to occupy the address at 115 N. Market Street was the Granada Theater. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by architect Leonard Jones and built by the General Construction Company of Glendale, the theater opened in 1924. It operated for two decades before being gutted by fire in 1945. Soon afterwards, the Fox West Coast Theater Company purchased the burned out Granada for $376,375. They decided to build a new theater. To this end Charles Skouras, president of the company, brought in veteran theater architect S. Charles Lee and Fox Theatres in-house designer Carl G. Moeller to create a movie palace more in keeping with the image that Fox West Coast Theaters wanted to project in the post war era, Hollywood glamour and luxury combined with unsurpassed comfort. Construction delays ensued, primarily because it was difficult for Fox West Coast to acquire building materials due to their rationing after the war. The theater finally opened its doors on March 31st 1949. The film was a star-studded premiere of the Fox film Mr. Belvedere Goes to College attended by Shirley Temple and Clifton Webb. The Fox Inglewood was often used for Film previews to gauge audience reactions to new Fox pictures as well as for full premieres. Although it would change ownership several times, the theater would remain in operation for over 40 years, finally closing its doors 1984. During the 1990s a major effort was made to rehabilitate Market Street. Downtown historical Buildings were surveyed. There were a few street improvements. The Fox, however continued to languish. It became the focus of different mixed-use redevelopment schemes by the local Community Redevelopment Agency. Recently, Inglewood residents have begun a preservation group aided by the Los Angeles Historic Theaters Foundation to raise awareness about the theater with the goal being to encourage the City of Inglewood to buy the theater for community use and rescue it from being razed by property developers.
