Return to PSTOS Home Page
Welcome to PSTOS

Fox Theatre - 2/6 Kimball
Victoria, B.C.
2657 Quadra St.
Organ installation timeframe: 1962 - 1966
 
Back to the Theatre Re-installations page
Back to the B.C. Canada Original Theatre Installations page

The Fox Theatre opened in 1949. It was a steel Quonset-type structure with 450 seats.
 
Click for a larger version of this image
1949. Image courtesy Royal BC Museum, public domain.
 
Click for a larger version of this image
1949
 
Click for a larger version of this image
Fox auditorium, 1949. Image courtesy Royal BC Museum, public domain.
 
Click for a larger version of this image
Fox projection booth, 1949. Image courtesy Royal BC Museum, public domain.
 
Click for a larger version of this image
Victoria Daily Times, February 1, 1949
 
Click for a larger version of this image
Quadra Street, 1959. Image courtesy City of Victoria archives, public domain.
 


 
In 1962, a 2/6 Kimball organ was installed. This instrument was originally installed 1924 in the St. Helens Theatre in Chehalis, Washington (KPO opus #6748). The organ was sold in 1952 for $1,000 to Glenn White of Seattle who installed it in his parent's Seattle home in the Queen Anne neighborhood. In 1962 Mr. White sold the instrument to Canadian organist Reginald Stone who comissioned him to install it in Victoria's Fox Theater.
 
Click for a larger version of this image
Reginald Stone at the Fox Theatre Kimball, date unknown
 
Click for a larger version of this image
News item from THEATRE ORGAN, Spring 1964. Reginald Stone accompanies a sing-a-long at the Fox Theatre Kimball.
 
Because it was a Quonset hut-type structure, the Fox Theatre did not have traditional organ chambers. It's likely the organ was installed on the stage area, behind the screen. In fact, in checking recent Google Maps views of the streets and alleys surrounding the theatre, a large "shed" can clearly be seen on the back of the theatre.
 
Click for a larger version of this image
2018 Google Maps view of the theatre showing large "shed" installed off the back.
 
Click for a larger version of this image Click for a larger version of this image
Reginald Stone made an LP of the Fox Theatre Kimball on the Aragon label.
 
In 1966 the organ was sold to Frank Mankin of Burnaby who installed it in his home studio.
 

 
Over the years, the theatre changed its name to Quadra in the 1960s and Roxy in the 1980s.
 
Click for a larger version of this image
Roxy Theatre, 2010. Image courtesy Lotus Johnson
 
In 2013 the theatre was acquired by the Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, presenting live productions of great theatre works of the past.


About this site© PSTOS, 1998-2020