The orange Fox Theatre marquee is coming down, making room for a replica of the original slim, vertical marquee the hung from the Fox when the movie house was brand new in 1930.

With the downtown Centralia sidewalk cordoned off Monday, a team of workers swarmed the 1958 marquee under the close and watchful eyes of Scott White, president of Historic Fox Theatre Restorations and Fernando Duarte, designer for the future replacement marquee.

Transformers were pulled as sections of the marquee were carefully removed for storage and decisions later. By the end of Monday, half the work was done.

After the de-installation of the current marquee and blade (the part of the sign running vertical to the marquee), temporary banners will be installed until funds can be raised to build and install the new marquee, which will be based on the original 1930 design. Part of the current marquee will be reused in construction of the new marquee.

The current marquee was built in 1958. Existing city streets were not as wide as they are today, so the replacement marquee will not have as wide an overhang.

The existing marquee was built with steel and weighs around 8,000 pounds. The new marquee will be constructed of aluminum and weigh approximately 2,000 to 3,000 pounds.

Centralia has been pushing to restore the Fox for a decade since buying it for $190,000 in 2001, three years after the last movie was shown in the former cinema. The theater was sold to a Yelm group called Opera Pacifica in 2003; they later painted the front marquee a bright orange that attracted curiosity and some criticism. In the face of slow restoration, the city bought back the Fox in 2007.

White has been leading the effort to revitalize the building for the past few years. So passionate is White about the theater he arranged his schedule to spend an entire, four-month summer on the restoration project.

This is my hometown and I have strong connections to Centralia and Lewis County and I do have a real love for the Fox Theatre, he said. I think everyone, no matter where you grew up, has a real connection to these theaters. This is the first place I ever saw a movie and (now) when I come in here every day I am inspired by this building that is still standing this incredible, 1930, ornate, art deco building and I feel fortunate I am seeing part of it restored.

White heads the nonprofit group working in conjunction with the city to restore the long-neglected Fox Theatre.

Everythings very positive and its always full-speed ahead with restorations, said White. Were essentially restoring the Fox Theatre inside and out, back to the way it was built in 1930.

Plans include replacing the roof, refurbishing the exterior brickwork, and rebuilding the original marquee and blade sign. The blade sign is the vertical portion of the marquee which reads Fox.

White, whose ongoing career includes scheduling all the shows for Disney Cruise Lines four ships, grew up the theater and dancing in Centralia before pursuing a career as a stage performer and ultimately a show promoter.

The fundraising weve been doing this year is explicitly for the roof replacement and marquee, White said.

Funds raised for the current project include $6,550 from local hotel and motel tax and $9,300 from a facade improvement grant.

The most recent performer to hit the stage at the Fox Theatre was Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson, who performed during last weekends first annual JazzArtique Festival. Two hundred people, including visitors from as far away as Portland and Berkeley, Calif., attended the event.

Friday nights show included an unexpected reminder of how much work remains ahead for the Fox. Shortly after the intermission, as Allison sang with her two-piece band, plaster rained down from the ceiling onto part of the stage. The singer halted mid-song and wondered aloud if the ceiling was about to come down.

White handled the incident with aplomb, noting, amid enthusiastic laughter and clapping, the falling plaster was a message from God for visitors to join in helping to restore the theater.

Victoria Stewart is a freelance journalist and photographer living in Chehalis. She can be contacted at creative01writer@yahoo.com.