Construction begins on Fort Worth’s new Omni Theater, replacing IMAX with digital LED
Mayor Mattie Parker brings her children to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History often.
She visited as a kid, too, and remembers its main attraction, the Omni IMAX Theater, which opened in 1983 — the same year she was born. The theater closed during the COVID shutdown in 2020, and when her son, Grayson, realized, he poked his mother for a request.
“He goes, ‘Mom, you’re the mayor, can’t you get this thing reopened?’” Parker said.
Four years after going dark, the theater will reopen in fall 2024 as the Jane and John Justin Foundation Omni Theater. Parker and other dignitaries attended a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, including representatives of the Justin family, famous for its Justin Boots.
The Omni theater will undergo a $21 million overhaul to install new digital technology, while keeping its original purpose for sparking interest in learning at the museum on Montgomery Street.
“Fort Worth will once again be a world leader in the application of state-of-the-art visual technology and science,” said museum president Orlando Carvalho. “We will only be limited by our imagination.”
The old theater featured a 180-degree white dome with IMAX film projecting on it to give guests an immersive viewing experience. But that technology is expensive and cumbersome.
The new Omni Theater will have a 78-foot diameter dome of 8K LED screens that allows for a more realistic interactive experience. The screens lining the dome will be one of a kind to Fort Worth. Cosm, the California-based company producing and installing the dome, is launching its display technology in the Omni Theater.
Cosm is building its second Cosm-branded public entertainment venue at Grandscape in The Colony, north of Dallas. Cosm’s first such venue is under construction in Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2020 by Dallas-based Mirasol Capital through a series of acquisitions of businesses in spatial computing, engineering and immersive video production.
“Fort Worth is not shy about being on the leading edge, and the opportunity was something we did not want to pass up,” Carvalho said. “We’re at the forefront of this capability and this technology, it just makes us proud. We will make this work.”
The museum is renovating the lobby of the theater with an emphasis on providing options for attendees with disabilities and creating an events space. The foyer and entrance of the theater will be one the same level, so all can easily enter the theater without climbing stairs. The theater seats will also be wider.
Carvalho, who is a retired executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, went to Parker and City Manager David Cooke to develop a strategy to reopen the Omni Theater and raise money.
“A man who can build F-16s and F-35s can certainly build a brand new Omni Theater,” Parker said during Tuesday’s ceremony. “I was so impressed by his tenacity to make sure today would happen.
Funding for the project includes The Amon Carter Foundation, Leo Potishman Trust, The Burnett Foundation, William F. Scott Foundation, The Paul E. Andrews Foundation and The Ryan Foundation.
The city of Fort Worth is contributing $5 million, and Tarrant County is funding $3 million.
In the 37 years the Omni Theater was open, more than 10 million attendees watched movies in it. Many remember the “Fort Worth Flyover” helicopter video.
More than 50,000 students from Fort Worth schools roam the halls of the museum each year, and with the new Omni Theater next year, the museum looks to spark interest in learning in a unique way.
“When you come to the new Omni Theater and see what the shows are like, not only will you be watching something educational, you’ll be watching it in a venue with an experience that is so impactful, it will change the lives of many children and young adults,” Carvalho said.
