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New Movie Theater at 6905 Camp Bowie Blvd.

Ridglea Hills

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#1 John T Roberts

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Posted 15 November 2022 - 06:36 PM

I mentioned this at one of our Forum Meetings in the Spring.  Our landlord is planning to build a movie theater in the parking lot of our building.  The old Levitz Warehouse has a small parking lot in front of the building along Camp Bowie and a very large parking lot on the east side of the building where the entrance to the former furniture store was located.  He hired us (Halbach-Dietz Architects) to design a small 2 screen movie theater to go in the lot between our building and Ties To The Past Antiques on the corner of the block.  The Camp Bowie District Design Standards and Guidelines require 30% of the front facade to have windows, and due to the requirement of a theater to have few windows, we have to present before the Urban Design Commission.  We were hoping that the Planning Staff would permit the 30% of windows to be spandrel glass to meet the requirement, but they finally determined that spandrel glass was not a window.  Therefore, a UDC hearing was required. 

 

The UDC Cases can be found here: https://cfw.maps.arc...6f6ab1542fca765

 

The Staff Report can be found here which includes a floor plan of the building:  https://www.fortwort...blvd_waiver.pdf

 

This is a view of the front facade of the theater:

movie-theater-elevation.png



#2 Nitixope

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Posted 15 November 2022 - 07:16 PM

I like the idea of a smaller more specialized movie theater. I havent had a chance to read the report, but it doesnt appear the plan is to serve food and alcohol like a movie grill since Im not seeing a large kitchen area. Thats ok with me as Im not a fan of eating in the dark but I see the appeal. I think a lot can be achieved even with slightly elevated concession stand options like small batch ice cream, perhaps wraps, specialty popcorn, fruiteria style cut fruit, paletas, mangonadas, elotes etc.

#3 John T Roberts

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Posted 15 November 2022 - 09:32 PM

Right now, there is not a plan to serve food at this theater.  However, a smaller retail/restaurant building is planned across the proposed landscaped area to the east of the theater.  If you are wondering why the east side of the building is staggered, there is an angled utility easement that run through the parking lot for a storm drain line.  The parking lot has a valley where the storm drain is located below, and you can barely make it out on the aerial included in the report.  If you go to Google Maps, you can see the two manholes on the site.  The one next to Camp Bowie is where the line makes a bend to go in a true north/south direction after crossing under the street perpendicular to it.  The other manhole is on top of a drain inlet on the south side of the parking lot.



#4 John T Roberts

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Posted 16 November 2022 - 11:51 AM

It's not often that I post a project from my office on the forum.  I'm curious if there is any more feedback or questions.



#5 JBB

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Posted 16 November 2022 - 12:33 PM

I quickly noticed the staggered portion of the building.  That's an interesting way to deal with following the easement.  This is a great project.  It seems like it would fill a niche market in the theater business that has and likely never will be the same as it was before COVID.  

 

I'm also not a big fan of a full meal in a movie theater.  I've done it plenty of times, mostly at Alamo Drafthouse where the food quality tends to lessen my irritation at eating a meal in the dark in an awkward chair.  Most of the time when we go to a movie, I sneak in candy or a snack from Walgreen's or Five Below for less than half the price of what a theater charges.



#6 John T Roberts

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Posted 17 November 2022 - 11:35 AM

The UDC approved the waivers and the building's design this morning.



#7 John T Roberts

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 08:17 PM

The Star-Telegram posted an article on the project in their digital media.  It is behind the paywall, and there really isn't anything in the article that we haven't discussed here.  However, for those of you who do have access, here's the link:  https://www.star-tel...e268941487.html



#8 Nitixope

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 09:28 PM

Thats great! I was able to read the article.

#9 johnfwd

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Posted 23 November 2022 - 10:27 AM

I'm surprised that any new movie theater is being constructed, whether it's here or anywhere else.  Has the economics of movie attendance improved since the pandemic?



#10 John T Roberts

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Posted 23 November 2022 - 10:46 AM

I don't think that the economics have improved.  Our landlord has money to spend and I guess he thinks that the time may be right to build a small theater.  Our parking lot to the east is underutilized, so I guess he decided he would build something on it.



#11 JBB

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Posted 23 November 2022 - 10:54 AM

I think there's likely a distinction between the large chain, multi-plex theaters and the smaller theater being discussed here.  The smaller theater is probably depending on an event driven movie business versus the larger chains dealing with distribution of first-run releases.



#12 Nitixope

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Posted 23 November 2022 - 11:28 AM

You could probably run a two screen theater with a staff of four.

-Concession
-Ticket sales if not automated
-Projectionist / cleanup crew
-Manager

#13 TLA

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Posted 23 November 2022 - 06:16 PM

I haven’t had a chance to comment, but I think this is a wonderful idea. If the owner can tap into cult classics, independent flicks, and watch parties this would fill “a gap we didn’t know we had”. Hopefully we will we Rocky Horror screenings once a month here.




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