It’s not just a theater restoration project. Forest Forward hopes to turn it into a community hub, complete with educational programming and mixed-income housing.
DALLAS — The sun could shine again upon a part of South Dallas that has sat abandoned for nearly 15 years but once served as a cultural hub for African Americans.
On MLK Jr. Boulevard near the on-ramps of two highways stands the historic Forest Theater — a site that has tried to come to life with multiple efforts throughout the years.
But nonprofit Forest Forward is determined to follow through with this latest attempt to revive the building. The nonprofit aims to restore vibrancy and economic prosperity in an often overlooked neighborhood. A groundbreaking was held in April 2024. Thanks to funding support from prominent Dallas philanthropists and an $8 million grant from the city announced in November, CEO Elizabeth Wattley thinks most of the work on the theater could be complete by December 2025.
The organization plans to restore the theater with four renovated spaces, measuring 45,000 square feet in total. This includes a 1,000-seat concert hall, complete with an upstairs and downstairs bar; a 13,000-square-foot arts workforce development hub; a vibrant rooftop deck; and a 200-seat studio theater dedicated to more intimate talks and lectures.
It’s not just a theater restoration project. Wattley hopes to turn it into a community hub, complete with educational programming and even mixed-income housing. The theater will partner with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Arts Academy, a Dallas ISD school that opened in 2020 for students in pre-K through eighth grade, many of whom move on to the district’s acclaimed arts magnet campus, Booker T. Washington High School.
This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
