Teatro Fox Delicias is a historic building in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1931,[2] 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. Originally called Teatro Delicias, it was renamed Fox Delicias many years after its inauguration based on a contract with 20th Century Fox.[3]
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.[4] The building bears an Art Deco architectural structure with an impressive multi-level front facade.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7] It was named the Fox Delicias Mall.[8] 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.[9]
Hotel
Teatro Fox Delicias redeveloped as a hotel
In 2004 the building started conversion into a hotel.[10][11] The boutique hotel had 30 rooms. The new hotel opened in 2004.[12] While it operated as a hotel, the structure continued to experience a flow of non-resident tourists.[13] It closed around 2010 and in 2018, Grupo Misla Villalba, a group of local investors, acquired the property and it's currently under remodelation to reopen as a Pop Art themed hotel named “The Fox Hotel”.[14][15][16] The hotel reopened on 4 December 2019.[17]
Teatro Broadway, a Spanish colonial revival building three blocks west of Teatro Fox Delicias at Calle Mayor Cantera, between Calle Isabel and Calle Sol (building demolished in the 1960s)[21]
Teatro National, a structure of modern design some six blocks southeast of Teatro Fox Delicias, in the northern edge of the Belgica sector, Barrio Cuarto on Calle Comercio and Calle Venezuela
Teatro Belgica, an Art Deco structure some eight blocks southeast of Teatro Fox Delicias, in the heart of the Belgica sector, Barrio Cuarto, on Calle Colombia and Calle Gran Via
Teatro Hollywood, another Art Deco building, some eight blocks southwest of Teatro Fox Delicias, in Barrio Primero en la Calle Villa esq. Calle Esperanza
Teatro Universal, another Art Deco structure yet located some eight blocks west of Teatro Fox Delicias, on Calle Progreso and Calle Vives
Teatro Rex, an Art Deco building, located northeast of Teatro Fox Delicias, in the Cantera sector of Barrio Sexto on Calle Mayor Cantera and Calle Acueducto
Teatro Argel, and Art Deco structure, located west of Teatro Fox Delicias, in the Clausells sector of Barrio Segundo, on Calle Victoria and Calle Fogos
Teatro Miramar, in Barrio Playa, on Calle Salmon and Calle Alfonso XII, facing the Caribbean Sea
^Secretaría de Arte y Cultura del Gobierno Municipal de Ponce, Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades, and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico. Ponce Ciudad Museo 2001. 2001. p. 43.
