Teatro Fox Delicias is a historic building in the city of Ponce,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Inaugurated in 1931, 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 Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

. Originally called Teatro Delicias, it was renamed Fox Delicias many years after its inauguration based on a contract with

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Location

The historic structure is located across the historic

Plaza Las Delicias Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within the plaza ...

in the heart of the

Ponce Historic Zone The Ponce Historic Zone (''La Zona Histórica de Ponce'') is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings and structures with architecture that date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone go ...

. Its location just north of Plaza Las Delicias makes it part of barrio Segundo.

Design

The building was designed by

Francisco Porrata-Doria Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

, who also designed Hotel Melia,

Banco de Ponce Banco de Ponce was the Puerto Rican bank with the largest number of branches in the United States and second largest bank in deposits and number of branches in Puerto Rico during the twentieth century. Founded in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the e ...

and many other structures in Puerto Rico. The building bears an Art Deco architectural structure with an impressive multi-level front facade.

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 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

for showing the movies. Given the movie contract and the location of the theater, it was named Teatro Fox Delicias. 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. The new mall opened in March, 1991. It had 26 commercial spaces ranging from to . It also had a cafe-theater. The total space was . Its president is Eduardo Ruberte Huertas. Its renovation lasted a year and cost $3 million.

Hotel

Teatro Fox Delicias in Ponce, Puerto Rico

In 2004 the building started conversion into a hotel. The boutique hotel had 30 rooms. The new hotel opened in 2004. While it operated as a hotel, the structure continued to experience a flow of non-resident tourists. 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”. The hotel reopened on 4 December 2019.

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 * Teatro Victoria, an

structure, located just three blocks north of Teatro Fox Delicias at Calle Union and Calle Victoria * Teatro Rivoli, also an Art Deco structure, located only two blocks from Teatro Fox Delicias at Calle Leon and Calle Sol in Barrio Quinto. Architect: Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti. * Teatro Broadway, a

Spanish colonial revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

building three blocks west of Teatro Fox Delicias at Calle Mayor Cantera, between Calle Isabel and Calle Sol (building demolished in the 1960s)Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. ''Breviario sobre la Historia de Ponce.'' 2nd ed. 2002. Page 120. Bayamon, PR: Impress Quality Printing. . * Teatro National, a structure of

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

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 Primero (in English also called Primus, ', or in Italian '' or Spanish ''Primera'')'', is a 16th-century gambling card game of which the earliest reference dates back to 1526. Primero is closely related to the game of primo visto (a.k.a. prima-v ...

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 Segundo (''Barrio Segundo'') is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Primero, Tercero, Cuarto, Quinto, and Sexto, Segundo is one of the municipality's six core urban barrios. It was organized in 1878. ...

, on Calle Victoria and Calle Fogos * Teatro Miramar, in Barrio Playa, on Calle Salmon and Calle Alfonso XII, facing the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

References

External links

Rendering of Teatro Fox Delicias

Photo of Teatro Fox Delicias in circa 1939

Photo of Teatro Fox Delicias in March 1949

Picture of Fox Delicias Mall, no date.

Transition from mall to hotel in July 2004.

Picture of Fox Delicias Hotel in 2005

Picture of Fox Delicias Hotel in 2007

Picture of Fox Delicias Hotel in 2009

Fox Delicias Hotel in 2010

Map showing location of Teatro Fox Delicias relative to Plaza Las Delicias

The Fox Hotel
{{Historic buildings of the Ponce Historic Zone, state=collapsed Hotels in Ponce, Puerto Rico Fox Delicias Fox Delicias 1931 establishments in Puerto Rico Tourist attractions in Puerto Rico Cinemas and movie theaters in Puerto Rico Art Deco architecture in Puerto Rico