{"id":328268,"date":"2025-10-24T04:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T04:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/328268\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T04:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T04:49:09","slug":"forest-theater-renovation-brings-new-vision-to-south-dallas-nbc-5-dallas-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/328268\/","title":{"rendered":"Forest Theater renovation brings new vision to South Dallas \u2013 NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nijuel X, the new artistic director of the historic Forest Theater<\/a>, spends most days checking in on the ongoing renovation of the 75-year-old building.<\/p>\n

X, who was born in Houston and raised in Port Arthur, recently moved to North Texas from Los Angeles, where he spent 15 years working in performance theaters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more about the impact that I can have on people, and I\u2019m just grateful Dallas is the place I get to do that,\u201d X said.<\/p>\n

The Forest Theater<\/a>, located just south of downtown along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Interstate 45, has long served as a center for Black artistic expression. Over the years, the venue has taken on many forms\u2014from a movie theater to a nightclub to a house of worship.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany leaders, many artists have graced this stage, these spaces,\u201d X said. \u201cAnd so, to have the responsibility to rebirth that\u2014it\u2019s a ceremony, it\u2019s a ritual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just across the street on MLK, the nonprofit Forest Forward, where X is based, has raised more than $70 million for the renovation, which includes a 28,000-square-foot expansion.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Wattley, president and CEO of Forest Forward<\/a>, said momentum around the project is about more than just bringing the building back to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a whole momentum and energy that has turned around that space, being able to come back to life,\u201d Wattley said. \u201cIt is showing people what is possible in South Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sees the theater\u2019s revival as a cornerstone for future development in the 75215 ZIP code, including housing and infrastructure aimed at improving life expectancy <\/a>and community outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really in the community to bring healthy neighborhood revitalization to the South Dallas neighborhood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

During a recent walkthrough of the main lobby under renovation, X described what\u2019s still to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this door you can\u2019t see, but eventually you\u2019ll be able to go and grab a cup of coffee,\u201d X said.<\/p>\n

Beyond performances, the new Forest Theater will include a caf\u00e9, recording studio and community gathering spaces meant to be active throughout the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we reclaim space and give it back to the community?\u201d X said.<\/p>\n

Most of the construction is expected to be substantially complete in early 2026, with a grand opening scheduled for November of that year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nijuel X, the new artistic director of the historic Forest Theater, spends most days checking in on the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":328269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1034,1596,78429,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-328268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-art-and-culture","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-discover-black-heritage","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115427342249470249","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}