Here & Now: Forest Forward

On November 1st, the light at the Forest Theater on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dallas will shine brightly once again. The theater has been completely restored and will anchor what many hope will be the beginning of a new era in South Dallas. A lot of people have been looking forward to it. It is the work of non-profit Forest Forward. President and CEO Elizabeth Watley is in the Here and now conversation with Fox 4's Sean Rabb. There's a scripture in the Old Testament that says write the vision down, write it on a table so he that reads it may run with it. wait for it, it will surely come to pass, and it is coming to pass. I'm talking about the vision of the renovation, renaissance of the Forest Theater. And with me now is Elizabeth Watley, president and CEO of the nonprofit that's putting all this together. And it was a vision when this started, wasn't it, Elizabeth Watley? It was. It was just a vision and a historic building that has sat for quite some time. But the best thing about the vision for the theater is it's a community vision. Everyone can see it. Everyone knows the impact that can happen when this building is turned on. So it is a vision, but I am really excited that it is a united and community vision. And so we're talking double digit days before we have the grand opening November 1st. We are out and we right now are sold out. We have a wait list happening. I want to ensure that the weather is going to hold up for us and then we can let more in. But we are really excited to have up to 2000 guests to come out and celebrate the lighting of the tower for the first time in over 50 years. And so it has been a long, long journey. It has been a lot of work, but it is incredible to see what's been able to come to life. Yes. And it's much more than just an entertainment venue this time. Yes, absolutely. So we are going to 66,000 square feet. Every square foot of the theater is designed to give back and to support the neighborhood. Through workforce employment training, we have a 13,000-square-foot arts course education hub. We also have hospitality training that we'll be working on as well as production. So we're learning a lot. We've got a lot of great teaching tools in our lighting systems, our cinema package. We have some great equipment that is state-of-the-art. Awesome. So what's going to happen on the 1st of November, Elizabeth Watley? Yeah, so on the 1st of November, we are going to celebrate. We're going to light the tower together as a community, as supporters of the work for the first time in over 50 years. And it'll never go dark again. So that has been a big deal. And we are also going to dance and celebrate in a place where the highway once divided the community, we will dance the night away. So it's going to be a good time. And we look forward to supporting you going forward. Yes, I'm excited about that because now the work starts, right? Now we really need people to be with us and along the way. All right, Elizabeth Watley, thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Appreciate the time.