After 60 Dark Years, the Forest Theater Tower Is Lighting Up in Dallas

Here's some plainly good news out of Dallas: the historic Forest Theater in South Dallas is reopening to the community after several years of restoration, and its iconic tower is lighting up for the first time in 60 years. CBS Texas reported the story this week, just ahead of the grand reopening on Sunday, November 1.

What happened

If you've driven through South Dallas anytime in the last half century, you've passed the Forest Theater standing quiet. When it opened in 1949, it quickly became the talk of the town — then closed in 1965 as ticket sales declined. That's a long time for a building to wait.

The wait is over. After decades of closures and millions of dollars in renovations, the Forest Theater is reopening with a new concert hall, retail shops, and community spaces. The 1949 landmark is getting new life with a concert hall, recording studios, retail shops and community spaces. And the showpiece moment: on Sunday, the theater's iconic tower will light up for the first time in more than 60 years.

Why it matters

Every Texas town has a building like this — the one everybody's grandmother remembers, the one that shows up in old photographs looking impossibly alive. Most of them don't make it back. This one did, and not as a museum piece. It's coming back as a working place: music, recording, shops, room for the neighborhood to gather.

The people behind the project see it that way too. The nonprofit leading the restoration has called the theater a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization, with connections reaching throughout the surrounding community. Preservation Dallas says that saving historic places impacts the city as a whole, and the Forest Theater received a historic land designation back in 2015 — so this comeback has been a long time in the making.

A tower, a street, a city

There's something particular about a lit-up theater tower at night. It's not subtle. It's not supposed to be. It says: something is happening here, come on in. For sixty-plus years that signal has been switched off on this stretch of South Dallas, and starting this weekend it's back on.

Texas is full of these glowing landmarks — old marquees, neon signs over cafes and motor courts, the kind of roadside light that makes a late drive feel like a small occasion. Every one that comes back on makes the whole map a little warmer. It's a big part of why we make what we make — if the Lone Star State's old glowing places make you a little sentimental, our Texas collection was designed with you in mind.

Go see it glow

If you're anywhere near Dallas, this one's easy. The community is invited to the reopening event on November 1 to see the restored historic lobby and theater — and the lighting of the Forest Theater tower for the first time in six decades.

Bring somebody who remembers the place, if you can. Failing that, bring somebody who's never seen a theater tower light up for the first time in sixty years — which, to be fair, is nearly everyone. Wear something that says you're glad to be from around here; the Texas State Pride Tee would do fine under a light jacket on a November evening in Dallas.

And if you can't make the opening, the good news is that this isn't a one-night event. The lights are staying on.

Common questions

When does the Forest Theater reopen?

The grand reopening is Sunday, November 1, per CBS Texas reporting published in late October. The tower lighting that evening will be its first in more than 60 years.

What will be inside the restored theater?

The restored landmark includes a concert hall, recording studios, retail shops and community spaces — it's being brought back as an active gathering place rather than a static landmark.

How old is the building?

The Forest Theater opened in 1949, which puts it in the same golden-age generation as many of the great movie houses and neon landmarks across Texas. It received a historic land designation in 2015, helping set the stage for this restoration.

Reported by CBS Texas. Details as published at the time of writing.