[2]The Spokesman-Review published initial depictions of the proposed atmospheric theater, which was designed in a "Hispano-Italian" architectural style by John Eberson.

[3][2] The site of the theater was to be on the southeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Monroe Street where Louie Adams' old beer parlor had been located.

[5] When Fox took over the companies operations in 1928, he reiterated support for the motion picture project in Spokane in several press releases in 1928 and 1929, including renderings of a new design, but the site remained vacant.

[8][9][2] All the exterior façades and trim on the rectangular-shaped building are concrete and were poured and completed in ten days using innovative construction techniques.

On the exterior of the building are incised bas-relief ornamentation, with stylized eagles on its Sprague Avenue façade and butterflies fronting Monroe Street.

[2] The budget for the project had been reduced to $750,000, which showed up in the form of a more simple and boxy exterior shell and a lobby with less ornamentation than in the designs shown in the newspaper.

[2] The centerpiece of the theaters interior was a 60-foot (18 m) wide light fixture made of etched glass and plaster in the shape of a sunburst,[3][13] it was accompanied by nine smaller chandeliers representing the stars of the universe.

[14][3] From the entrance, the theater has two lobbies on opposite ends of the building which lead to ornately decorated hallways that provide access to the auditorium's main floor, halfway down the hallway and opposite to the main floor entrance is an exit to a pair of grand staircases that provides access to the mezzanine and balcony levels.

Anita Page, Mitzi Green, George O'Brien, Victor McLaglen and El Brendel attended the opening performance gala.

[3][13] The public was surprised at the sight of the buildings sleek modern art deco exterior, which was in stark contrast to the Italianate renderings that were shown in the Spokesman-Review in years prior.

[17] Wilbur Hindley at the Spokesman-Review commented that the design was "so unusual, so bizarre and so futuristic that the casual passerby catches his breath in surprise and wonder;" the design utilized aluminum and glass as opposed to the traditional marble and wood in the interior décor, which included embellishments like hand painted murals of undersea plants and etched glass light panels.

[3] This mix of alternating traditional vaudeville style live entertainment and trendy Hollywood talkies was part of the theaters initial long-term business strategy and reflected the evolving tastes of the public.

[22] In May of that year, the Fox Theater sold it to a Los Angeles-area collector, who disassembled it and had it shipped to California, the process of dismantling the organ took approximately one week.

[21] Not long after in 1969, the theater discontinued its long running Community Concerts series that it had hosted since 1934 that had brought in many big names over the years such as Vladimir Horowitz, Yehudi Menuhin, Marian Anderson, Arthur Rubinstein, Rudolf Serkin, Jascha Heifetz, Glenn Gould, Isaac Stern, and Leontyne Price.

A donation of vacant land by the Cowles family allowed the stage area to be enlarged on the west side of the theater and a new concrete bulwark was erected there and a refabricated vertical marquee was created to sit atop the building.

[10] Upgrades to the theater included installing heating and air conditioning systems and soundproofing the venue to make the acoustics suitable for a symphony.