Fox Theater in Salinas reopens after four and a half months, battle over code violations.

Anthony Lane was true to his word.

Ever since the city of Salinas ordered the owner of Fox Theater to shutter the downtown landmark on April 12 citing code violations, including what inspectors indicated was an unreinforced masonry wall, Lane repeatedly said that nothing would stop him from reopening.

On Thursday, Aug. 30, he received an occupancy permit allowing him to unlock the doors once again.

“It was not only a case of patience, you needed the backing financially and the will not to give up,” Lane says. “No one will take it away from me.”

Two days after reopening, Lane reports he lined up 14 acts and events for the near future, including bands, comedy shows, private parties and weddings. In the four and a half months since city officials ordered the theater to close, Lane says he lost close to 40 events and over $400,000 in revenue that would have gone to both the theater and promoters for musical acts.

“We had to cancel some major concerts,” he adds.

Code enforcement officers made the decision to shut the building in April due to work done without permit that they believed posed fire and safety hazards, as well as the unreinforced masonry wall on one side of the historic structure—it opened in 1921—which inspectors claimed fell short of modern earthquake standards. Despite completing all work and receiving the permit, Lane still contends that inspectors were wrong to cite the theater.

“I had installed the sprinklers by April 8th,” he says. Installing a steel structure to support the wall took quite a bit longer.

The wall became a sticking point, with the bickering spilling over into Salinas City Council meetings, where Lane sought to delay the deadline for completion of work until 2019. He continues to say the city’s decision to force him to complete construction upgrades was premature.

“After further inspecting the wall, my engineer was 100 percent sure it was not needed,” Lane says of the work. “The city refused to look at the video and pictures of the findings and told us to just get the work done if we wanted to reopen.”

With Fox Theater up to code and open again, Lane’s frustration now has a note of enthusiasm.

“I have my life back,” he says.