In response to the news that Bank of America will be taking over the Ridglea, co-owner Wesley Hathaway released the following statement:
FROM RIDGLEA THEATER:
As you may have heard, the previous owner of the Ridglea Theater complex lost the building to FixFunding, LLC, a funding company based in Dallas. The complex has been up for sale and may have already been sold to a bank. [Ridglea co-owner] Richard Van Zandt has shown the Ridglea to their “team” of architects more than once.
However, the City of Fort Worth has requested that IF FOLKS DO NOT LIKE THE PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE, THEY SHOULD LET CITY COUNCILMAN W.B. “ZIM” ZIMMERMAN AND THE FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL KNOW IMMEDIATELY!
Richard and I would love to get this stopped — not because of what we do here (after all, we need to retire sometime) but simply because [the theater] is the last of the grand old buildings in Fort Worth. It would be a shame to lose part of the heritage of Fort Worth, and it should be preserved! The paintings are original! The mosaic floor could never be replaced, and the structure itself inside is beautiful. Of course, the present owners are probably not interested in the history, and I can see their point — they are in the business of making money.
This is going to hit the newspapers immediately, and we would like to let our loyal supporters know what is going on! It’s HORRID!!!! Our lease runs into early next spring, so we hope we can stay at least that long.
Meanwhile, it’s BUSINESS AS USUAL! Ridglea Theater needs the local support now more than ever. Please contact the Fort Worth City Council and let them know how much you want the Ridglea Theater to stay!
If you would like to help support the preservation of Ridglea Theater, please use the contact information below to make your voice heard.
City Councilman W.B. Zimmerman
District 3 Office
1000 Throckmorton St.
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
Telephone: 817-392-8803
Fax: 817-392-6187
E-mail:District3@fortworthgov.org
City of Fort Worth Zoning Commission
http://www.fortworthgov.org/planninganddevelopment/zoningcommission.aspx
My email has been sent and I will do what I can to keep Ridglea Theater alive as one of the best music venues in the metroplex!
We’re notifying all 450 of our wedding guests for our September wedding (good timing, we’re just now sending the invites out) to send in letters. I recommend handwritten and addressed letters, they get read more frequently from what I’m told.
Good Morning,
As a Fort Worth native I would like to express my love for the Ridglea Theater. Living off of Bryant Irving and River Park, my daily commute to and from work takes me right past the historic theater. I spend much of my spare time on West Seventh Street. I could easily hop on I-30 to make my trek much more time efficient, but I ALWAYS opt to drive down what I call the “aorta” of Fort Worth, Camp Bowie. The Ridglea Theater is such a huge part of that aorta. The West Part of Camp Bowie (Ridglea area) has great potential to be the next booming West Seventh, filled with a buzz of businesses including unique boutiques, fresh restaurants, and live music. The Ridglea theater would be a great way to promote and identify the area, the same way the Montgomery Wards Building is the land marker for the new West Seventh development.
Thank you for your time.
Blake