Fox Theater owner plans to sue Salinas

Anthony Lane bought the nearly 100-year-old Fox Theater is 2007. He says everything was fine for the first four years, then he received a notice three years ago. From there, he says it only got worse.

“I don’t want to be the bad guy in this,” Lane said. “I’m forced into this because the city does not want to acknowledge their responsibility to me for the mistakes they’ve made.”

He loves the historic building but says he’s sick and tired from years of going back and forth with the city. Now, he’s going to court.

The battle began in 2012 over two walls. Lane says one belongs to Fox Theater, the other belongs to the neighbors. Lane says his wall is fine, but the other needs fixing. He says the city’s telling him he is responsible for the repairs.

“They cited me for an unreinforced mason wall,” Lane said, “And I was fighting them with that for a year and a half. They actually did close me down two times for close to 60 days for this event. They stopped a lot of business that I had. I lost a lot of tenants because of that. I lost many concerts because of that. Come to find out the wall was not mine, it was owned by my neighbor, so they cited me for a wall I don’t have.”

He filed a claim against Salinas earlier this year, it was denied. That set the stage for a lawsuit.

“The lawsuit is loss of income,” Lane explained, “Closing me down, making a mistake on the wall, putting me in the hospital for all the pain and suffering that I’ve been through for the last 3 1/2 years. It’s been ridiculous. I’ve almost lost everything.”

He says this fight has cost him more than $250,000 out of pocket. As for Salinas, city attorney Chris Callihan says he couldn’t comment on camera about a possible lawsuit, but said “We will review it and respond accordingly when we get it.”

Lane says he’ll file his lawsuit against the city on Wednesday.