The Citizen Theater Revealed
January 5, 2011 at 11:49 am | Architecture & Urban Design, Urban Development | Tags: Architecture, art, film, Magnolia Village, Near Southside, Retail, urban design
This is something we’ve been waiting to show you all for a long time, and it’s finally here – the Citizen Theater is revealed!
Above is a preliminary rendering of the theater, still a work-in-progress but enough to give the general idea of the building’s form. Just remember that the details are still being worked on, so the rendering above isn’t final (this rendering comes across more monolithic than the final product will). The Citizen is a twin-screen art house movie theater to be built in the Near Southside, on Magnolia Avenue spanning between Fairmount and 7th Avenue (directly across Magnolia from Benito’s, across 7th from Ellerbe Fine Foods, and across Fairmount from Jim’s Lock and Safe), by Amy McNutt and James Johnston, the couple who brought you Spiral Diner. This full-block site has been a vacant lot for years, and filling that gap in the streetscape with such a fantastic use will really be a blessing for Magnolia.
The two-story theater is being designed by Fort Worth’s own Joe Self of Firm 817, with interior design by Kara Keith (who designed the stunning modern interior of The Usual bar just down the street). The Citizen’s cinema consultant is Jack Panzeca. The Citizen will feature two screens, a fully vegan snack bar powered by Spiral Diner, what looks to be an upstairs lounge area, and a classic urban design right up on Magnolia with all parking to the rear. The building’s architecture could probably best be described as a sleek modern revival of Streamline Moderne with Art Deco elements and detail. The entrance features a grand sign topped with a stylized Art Deco phoenix, rising above a classic-style marquee.
We think the Citizen is a real stunner. Firm 817′s doing what looks like a fantastic job reinterpreting classic Golden Age theater design with a clean modern edge, and we have no doubt the interiors will match. The Citizen will at long last bring a full indie art house theater experience to Fort Worth, and will do so in a walkable & bike-friendly setting in the heart of Fort Worth’s coolest concentration of locally-owned businesses. We can’t wait to see more as construction nears and the design gets all finalized.
For more information on the Citizen, including investment opportunities, visit the Citizen Theater web site. With construction to start this year, Amy is looking for individual investors (who can look forward to an 8%-10% yearly return depending on the amount lent), so please give her a shout for investment opportunity info.
These renderings and plans are from the Citizen’s Historic & Cultural Landmarks Commission application (since the site is part of the Fairmount historic district). Click on any thumbnail to embiggen.
