I had already seen this article and had already screen capped that which you see here, intending to blog about it, but then forgot about it til reminded by the aforementioned future U.S. Representative, Elsie Hotpepper.
I was not long in Texas when I was first appalled by Fort Worth's New Isis Theater, appalled because it appeared to be an abandoned eyesore blighting the good looks of what I then (and still do) think is Fort Worth's only actual tourist attraction, the Fort Worth Stockyards.
That was almost 20 years ago I first saw the blighted New Isis Theater eyesore. Soon thereafter I began my Eyes on Texas website. At that point in time I was still trying to come to terms with the culture shock of adjusting to Texas, after having spent my entire life in a more modern, progressive part of America, where something like the New Isis Theater would not be allowed to fester in such a sad state of decrepitude in such a location.
Early on in my Eyes on Texas webpage writing my take on what I was describing might seem a bit more harsh than my 2017 version of describing that which appalls me, because, like I already said, I was still trying to adjust to the culture shock.
During that early in this century time frame I made a webpage documenting some of the tacky things I was seeing, calling that webpage Texas Tacky, if I remember correctly.
The Texas Tacky webpage has a section devoted to the New Isis Theater tacky eyesore. That generated some interesting feedback relevant to this latest iteration of a well meaning person trying to restore that long abandoned theater.
That is a screen cap of part of the Texas Tacky webpage's New Isis Theater section you see here. I will copy some of the text. You may find the message I received over a decade ago about an effort to restore the theater to be interesting...
THE FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS
This example of Texas Tacky is in Fort Worth's Stockyards. There is an abandoned theater on Main Street in the heart of the Stockyard's 'Historical District' called, ironically, the 'New Isis'. This theater appears to have long been abandoned, broken windows covered with plywood as per the Fort Worth standard for abandoned buildings. To add to the tackiness semi-current messages are put on the marquee. On one side the sign says 'Welcome to the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards', while the other side announces 'Christmas in the Stockyards', which would be fine, except this sign still says this, on the first day of spring, 2002, well after Christmas. It is difficult to understand how a major city would allow such an eyesore to exist in the heart of its main claim to tourist fame. Particularly an eyesore with such renovation possibilities. Where is the civic pride? Perhaps a city government group could be sent to other towns to see how they manage to fix such problems. Any of the tourist towns in Washington state would suffice, or any of the tourist towns on Highway 49 in California. Or any of the tourist towns in Colorado, Utah, Arizona or New Mexico. Or just stay in Texas and find out how the town of Archer City managed to renovate their town's famous theater.
UPDATE: In fall of 2005 the reader board on the ISIS was changed to indicate the eyesore was going to be re-modeled. The re-modeling does not appear to be underway.
UPDATE 2: June 7, 2007 we received the following email:
From: Robert Adams
To: feedback
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 10:40 PM
Subject: The New Isis Theater
Dear Tacky Texas,
As an FYI - The New Isis Theater is currently in the architectural phase of renovation. This will probably take 3-4 months and the renovation approximately 14-16 months. Hopefully we can achieve a look which will remove us from your expertly crafted list of Stockyard buildings in need of repair. You could be very helpful in this process by informing your web viewers that the original seats from the inside of the theater are available for those who would like to purchase a piece of history. These will need to be replaced because of they are only 16 1/2 inches wide compared to modern theater seats at 21". (a testament to the decline of our culinary tastes over the last 70+ years.)
Regards,
robert@thenewisistheater.com
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So, I hope this teacher has a lot of luck with this latest attempt to restore this long abandoned embarrassing eyesore blight on Fort Worth's only actual tourist attraction. But, if Vegas is taking bets I would not put any money on it happening, anymore than Mineral Wells' Baker Hotel getting renovated.
The Baker Hotel eyesore also seems to regularly re-surface as a renovation project which goes nowhere. I have also received multiple communications about such over the years. At one point I got to take a tour of the Baker Hotel.
The Baker Hotel is a bit more impressive than the New Isis Theater, renovation possibility-wise, but I really do not expect either to have a Grand Re-Opening in my lifetime...
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