three-screen complex (with one main screen downstairs and two balcony screens upstairs) on 14 November 1975. In 1989, the theater began showing second-run movies at per ticket. Nine chandeliers were removed from the ceiling to accommodate the change. When Regal Cinemas built the new 12-screen megaplex at NorthTown Mall, it sold half of its eight Spokane theaters, including the Fox. The final movie, a screening of Gladiator, was shown on 21 September 2000, and a small ceremony before the showing marked the sale of the theater to the Spokane Symphony, where representatives of Regal Cinemas and the Spokane Symphony exchanged a symbolic $1.3 million check for the keys to the theater. Michelle Obama, wife of the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama held a rally campaigning for her husband's presidential campaign on February 8, 2008. Fundraising and restoration The adjacent Spokane Club sought to purchase and demolish the building to build a parking garage. Although the club had entered into negotiations with the then-owners, Regal Cinemas, they had not signed a contract and the Club dropped its plans to purchase the theater and supported the Spokane Symphony's bid when they learned they were interested in the site for a concert hall. The theater was saved when the Spokane Symphony signed a contract to purchase it for million in June 2000. Once the Symphony determined whether the renovations were feasible and the funds could be raised, it began an extensive "Save the Fox" fund raising campaign to raise the budget needed for restoration. Myrtle Woldson gifted the campaign $1 million and then followed that up with a challenge to match a $2 million donation. About a quarter of the restoration funds were raised from federal and state sources, $8 million from various programs including a Save America's Treasures grant and $2.5 million allocated from the Washington state legislature. Prominent architectural features were renamed in honor of significant donors. The theater dedicates a "Walk of Stars" along Sprague Avenue and Monroe Street to acknowledge the donations and contributions of those who support the theater and symphony. The theater was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 2001. The restoration designer was NAC Architecture of Spokane and the contractor on the project was Walker Construction of Spokane. Restorers catalogued, cleaned, painted, and re-created lost architectural details and lighting fixtures. Some external building modifications were made during the renovation. A