Things are looking grim for the Ridglea Theater. It’s my understanding that Bank of America has been meeting with the building’s owners, Fix Funding, as well as Councilman Zimmerman, about moving forward with purchasing the structure. BoA may even already have the building under contract. Councilman Zimmerman does not seem to be responsive to efforts to save the building. He apparently believes Bank of America’s plan to demolish everything but the facade of the theater to build a drive-through bank branch to be a positive proposal. Given the opposition from Historic Fort Worth and large numbers of Fort Worth residents who may not even care for the metal acts that frequent the Ridglea today but who wish to see the building saved and not replaced with a generic drive-through bank hiding behind the shell of the facade, this attitude from the district’s elected official is deeply disappointing.
I feel that the best hope now is to tell Bank of America of your opposition to the proposal. In other words, a large national corporation must act based on the community’s wishes where its own elected official will not. Here is the contact information of the BoA reps involved:
Diane Wagner: 312.828.2932, diane.wagner@bankofamerica.com
Mike Pavel: email via mandy.kizer@bankofamerica.com
And of course, you can still e-mail Zim via the following link:
Zim Zimmerman – 817-392-8803 - District3@fortworthgov.org
Personally, I feel that demolishing a historic theater and performance venue, along with its associated mixed-use historic building, just to replace them with a generic drive-through bank branch making a half-hearted attempt to “fit in” by hiding behind a tiny sliver of the original structure is no progress at all (especially given Ridglea’s status as a designated Urban Village, an area the city wants to see grow denser and more walkable with more mixed uses). Replacing something as iconic and unique in Fort Worth’s history as the Ridglea with another generic pod of cookie-cutter suburbia, yet another bank branch on a formerly important street that is increasingly home to bland and generic junk, is a terrible mistake. I’ve seen buildings in far worse condition be saved . Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever – I hope we won’t make this mistake. If you agree, please let the powers that be know.
And check out the Save the Ridglea Theater group while you’re at it.
Update: Got forwarded a letter sent to Bank of America and Councilman Zimmerman from Steve Smith, partner at local marketing firm Starr Tincup, that quite eloquently states its case:
Dear Diane, Mike and Council Member Zimmerman:
As a Fort Worth business owner, I am deeply concerned by reports I see about Bank of America’s plans for the Ridglea Theater. My company works with clients all over the world, and when we bring them to Fort Worth, they are always surprised to discover that we are so much more than our Cowtown image. On the contrary, Fort Worth has become a cosmopolitan city – in large part because we are rich in cultural and architectural diversity. We embrace our past as we move into the future. However, transforming the Ridglea Theater into a bank is a step in the wrong direction. Destroying the Ridglea Theater costs Fort Worth a little piece of its soul.
I know that this may sound a little hippy-dippy to you, but my company is a $12 million business that can operate anywhere in the world. We choose to be in Fort Worth because it’s a great place to live and can attract the talent we need to compete on a global scale. The writers, coders, designers and creative types that I need are a lot more compelled to live in a city where the Ridglea Theater can thrive as a music venue or art-house movie theater, not be razed to build another bank. Destroying the Ridglea actually has an impact on my business.
I urge you to please consider other options before making this tragic mistake.
Thank you for your consideration,
Steve
–
Steve Smith
Starr Tincup
817.204.0279 || starrtincup.com
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