Fort Worth: Ridglea Theater

The Ridglea Theater has watched over Camp Bowie Boulevard on Fort Worth’s west side for more than seventy years, its 70-foot Spanish Mission-style tower visible for blocks. Independent histories put its opening in December 1950 (the venue’s own materials cite 1947 for the original construction), a Mediterranean-Revival movie palace built for a west-side Fort Worth that was booming with post-war growth.

From Movie Palace to Music Hall

Inside, the Ridglea kept its terrazzo-tile floor with a compass-rose design and a mural by artist Eugene Gilboe through several changes of ownership — the Interstate theater chain gave way to Cinemark, which split the auditorium into a three-screen multiplex in 1987, then converted it to a dine-in format in 1994. By 1999 the Ridglea had shifted to a concert hall, and it operated as a live-music room until closing for restoration in 2011. Local entrepreneur Jerry Shults bought and restored the building, reopening it in 2012 with the terrazzo, mural, and marquee intact alongside a modern sound system. The Ridglea was added to the National Register of Historic Places that same year.

One of the Largest Rooms on the West Side

Depending on how the floor is configured, the Ridglea holds anywhere from around 700 seated guests to roughly 1,200 standing for a general-admission show, plus a couple of smaller private rooms that can be booked separately — flexible enough for a national touring act, a tribute show, or a wedding reception under the same restored ceiling.

The Ridglea sits about six miles from Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall in the Stockyards, giving Fort Worth’s west side its own historic answer to the newer venues closer to downtown. Check the Ridglea’s own calendar for showtimes, since the room alternates between concerts, screenings, and private events week to week.

I’ve been here ♪