Arlington Theatre

The Arlington Theatre is the largest movie theatre in Santa Barbara and was built in 1931 for Fox West Coast Theatres. Although the theatre has undergone several renovations, it retains its atmospheric Spanish Colonial / Mission Revival style. The theatre is home to a 4-manual, 27-rank Robert-Morton organ, one of only five “Wonder Morton” theatre organs to have been built. In the late 1920’s, Fox West Coast Theatres wanted to build a movie theatre in Santa Barbara to compete with the Granada Theatre, owned by Warner Bros. The resultant Fox theatre was named for – and built on the site of – the Arlington Hotel, which suffered catastrophic damage in a major earthquake (estimated at ~6.5M) on 29th June 1925. While officially called the Fox Arlington Theatre, everyone knew the new movie palace as just “The Fox”. Local architects William Edwards and Joseph Plunkett designed the theatre, and the interior was decorated by the Los Angeles-based Robert E. Power Studios. The building was transferred to investors The Arlington Corporation of California, Ltd and Fox West Coast took out a 25-year lease.