Located just two blocks north of Saint Louis University, the Fabulous Fox Theatre’s recognizable bulb-lit marquee is visible from the campus’s busy Grand Boulevard crosswalk. A short stroll away, this venue transports its visitors to exotic times and places.

Just inside the theater, the grand lobby walls are emboldened by deep turquoises, indigos and clay reds; arches are hung with decadent curtains; and gold-accented columns and sconces curl toward a high, painted ceiling. Here and there, the lively carved forms of wild monkeys, eagles, butterflies and orient-inspired dragons look on as theater patrons shuffle along a lush red carpet. With décor inspired by ancient Indian, Babylonian and Moorish themes, the place is picturesque-and extravagant.

Since the Fox’s busy season began in fall 2007, this heart of Midtown’s Grand Center has been celebrating its 25th anniversary after reopening under new ownership in September 1982. It may be wearied by myriads of well-heeled shoes, but as its aged intricately carved animals, imperial columns and grand staircase attest, the story of the Fox actually began decades earlier.

Bill Fox, a wealthy media mogul, opened the Fox for the first time in 1929, said Julie Lally, public relations coordinator at the theater. “But it was around the stock market crash [of that year and,] eventually, Fox was forced to sell the theater after going bankrupt.”

After the sale, a handful of owners had some success using the venue as a cinema.

“The ’50s and the ’60s were huge,” Lally said. “We have a lot of people who came here and saw movies back in the day . They say it’s just as beautiful as it was then.”

In 1978, however, the Fox closed due to lack of business. At that time, “hardly anybody lived downtown, everyone went to the suburbs . People didn’t come into town to see a movie,” said Lally.

The theater became dilapidated, without activity for a few years. By 1981, the theater “looked really bad . There was only one working lightbulb in the whole place,” said Lally. “They were going to tear it down.”

That year, Leon and Mary Strauss, of Fox Associates, bought the property and decided to renovate.

“They redid the carpeting and cleaned everything else as best they could to restore it to its former grandeur,” Lally said.

In fact, renovations have continued since the theater reopened 25 years ago.

“We just got a new digital marquee,” said Lally, “and repaired the window out front . We are always refurbishing and painting and keeping it really sparkling.”

Still, other than carpeting the lobby, adding bathroom stalls and covering the theater seats “a few times,” Fox Associates have not changed the interior of this now-famous venue, Lally said.

“We have a huge, pretty chandelier that’s ornate and hangs down from the top of the auditorium. People are pretty much in awe just because it’s very gaudy,” said Lally. “There’s not one inch of the theater that’s not covered in gold.”

Tours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday showcase the theater’s lobby, upper floors and the art exhibit on the fourth floor, called Peacock Alley. Patrons can also visit Peacock Alley before shows and during intermission.

“I think we’re one of the cornerstones of Grand Center . We’re kind of like the crown jewel . the biggest venue down here,” said Lally. “We bring the biggest names here to St. Louis . and we get St. Louisans to come in from the suburbs.”

A setting for classic and modern musical productions, concerts of all genres, plays and comedians, the Fox houses ageless stories.

The venue itself has also garnered legendary status: A unique and awe-inspiring setting, the Fox is an entertainment experience in itself.