1973 the theater building was twice the victim of arson after the owner refused to hire a quota of Black Panthers and pay for their "protection". In 1977 the theater was used during the filming of the horror film Nightmare in Blood directed by John Stanley. In 1983 and 1984 the Dickens Fair used the theater for Victorian England reenactments, setting up a mock village. By 1975 the building was in such disrepair that the City's Public Works Department presented a plan for the City to purchase the property, demolish the building, and create a parking lot. However, their plans floundered and on Jan. 24 1978 the Mann Theater Group sold the theater at auction to Mario and Erma DeLucchi for $340,000. A few months after the purchase, Mr. DeLucchi died of a heart attack and plans for a restoration of the theater never took off. With the support of then-Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson the building was designated an Oakland City Landmark in 1978 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places the following year. Restoration In 1996, the Oakland Redevelopment Agency bought the building for $3 million. In 1999 a group of concerned citizens formed the Friends of The Oakland Fox and some badly needed restoration work began. In December 2004, the Oakland Redevelopment Agency received a $2.9 million grant for further restoration of the theater. When mayor Jerry Brown needed to find a new home for the Oakland School for the Arts, a charter high school dedicated to the arts, the task fell to the Redevelopment Staff who conceived of the idea of placing the school in the retail and office space that surrounded, and were part of, the Fox Theatre building. Restoring and reopening the theater in a shared use plan with the school was quickly championed by local developer Phil Tagami. Friends of the Oakland Fox played a role with the Oakland Redevelopment Agency in raising funding for the elaborate $75 million restoration process. Reopening February 2009 marked the beginning of a new era for the Fox. After being neglected for forty years, the once glamorous theater made its comeback as a 2,800-seat concert hall. Accentuating its revival, the theater's grand opening night featured a “roaring twenties” theme celebrating the newly renovated theater MC'ed by Oakland native, comedian Don Reed (East 14th, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Snap Judgment). The first paid performance