The Tower Theatre for the Performing Arts is a historic Streamline Moderne mixed-use theater in Fresno, California. Built in 1939, it opened to the public on December 15, 1939, under the management of Fox West Coast Theater Corporation. The building was designed by S. Charles Lee, with its tower inspired by the "Star Pylon" at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The theater underwent a renovation and reopened as a performing arts center in 1990, after being closed as a repertory cinema in 1989 due to financial troubles. History The theater is located in a part of Fresno that had been developing into a shopping area since about 1923. Discussions of building a theater in the neighborhood began as early as 1927. The first of three proposals for a theater was made on December 3, 1938, published in The Fresno Bee. Fox West Coast Theater Corporation, in cooperation with A. Emory Wishon, proposed a $200,000 theater similar to the S. Charles Lee-designed Ritz Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles. The project would be built on the whole block at the northwest corner of Olive and Wishon Avenues. The property was owned by the Wishon Estate and was a playground at the time. A second proposal was made for a larger structure to be built, also on the Wishon property. It was designed in early 1939 by Thomas F. Chase, but was abandoned. A third plan, for a smaller $65,000 theater, was made about the week of April 16, 1939, for Redwood Theatres, Inc. William David was the architect for the proposed structure at North Van Ness and Olive, but the plans never materialized. Building permits were issued on May 11, 1939, by the city of Fresno for a Wishon/Fox theater. Codenamed "The Ritz", the design was significantly smaller than the original Wishon/Fox proposal. It was designed by S. Charles Lee and was estimated to cost $100,000. Construction began immediately following the issuing of permits under the direction of general contracting firm Trewhitt, Shields and Fisher. The original design for a finned tower was revised by Lee in August 1939. The new design resembled the "Star Pylon" at the 1939 New York World's Fair, designed by Francis Kelly and Leonard Dean to symbolize the "force of electricity". On December 14, 1939, the theater, formally dedicated as the "Tower Theatre", opened to a private party for local dignitaries and people associated with Fox