Days after sudden closure of historic Fort Worth theater, questions linger

The lights are still on, and the marquee is still scrolling outside of the Downtown Cowtown at The Isis theater. But the doors are locked.

It threw Jill Schultz off, who came for a follow-up meeting with the owner, hoping to become a new vendor there.

“I was really wanting to come down here for Christmas this season and especially do some events, you know, with our American Harvest Organic Vodka," said Schultz, who is a field marketing manager with the company.

With no sign on the doors, she went next door to Lazy J Ranch Wear and found out about the theater's closure.

“Just hate to see it go," said Brad Humphreys, who has owned the Lazy J for nine years, and has been a community neighbor since he was 16 years old.

“Always seeing it, and then watching it run down, and then seeing somebody finally taking hold of it and redoing it was very good," Humphreys said, crediting owner Jeffrey Smith with revamping the historic venue.

“Having the theater here, having the hotel there, having Tecova’s boots up the road, has helped us get more retail traffic down here," he said. "Before, I was on the end and it was kind of like I was the last one that, you know, was actually open, so it was kind of dead down there.”

Like many others, he found out about the shutdown through the venue's Facebook post on Sunday.

There haven't been many answers since.

Smith faces lawsuits over alleged delinquent taxes and loan defaults.

One was brought in August by the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and other municipal agencies over more than $200,000 in owed taxes.

Another was filed in September by other theater investors, alleging Smith "(1) caused nearly $7.5 million in financing to be in default and at risk of foreclosure; (2) failed to pay property taxes; (3) failed to obtain insurance; (4) failed to provide any meaningful financial reporting; (5) threatened to abscond with equipment owned by the company; and (6) purported to transfer some unknown rights or interests to some ne’er-do-well that is a complete stranger."

According to the lawsuit, RAMM SDF Theater, L.L.C., the investor member of the theater, wants to enforce what it says is their right, under governing documents, "to assume control of the business."

NBC 5's Tahera Rahman got ahold of Isis theater owner Jeffrey Smith.

“I am not at liberty to discuss what is happening at the present moment. The time will come when I can, but today is not the day. I was blindsided and need a little time to address what is happening. I would appreciate your patience and privacy until I can speak candidly," he said in a text.

At least two ticket-holders told NBC 5 that they're out about $100 each and haven't heard about next steps, only a comment reply online saying the owners were working on it.

NBC 5 asked what he'd tell performers and ticket-holders who are still in limbo, as well as if he is still the owner, and if the closure has anything to do with the lawsuits mentioned above.

"Patrons need to know that we have always put them first but they will have to be patient during this difficult time. When I have any answers I can provide I will let you know," Smith wrote.

It's all a shock for patron Ryan Bijan, who had been hosting a film series at the theater for the past year.

“Within the past year, I made a lot of great memories, I met a lot of wonderful people because of this opportunity at the theater," he said.

Bijan said he's grateful for the experience, and for what Smith did for the historic venue, revamping it and giving it new life.

“I love historic theaters, old time cinemas, so to me, the Isis theater, being able to come in here and see it brought back to life was such a beautiful presence to it, a beautiful life to it," Bijan said. “He was able to accomplish something that I feel like a lot of people had talked about."

He and others hope the historic theater still has more life ahead.

“Fort Worth deserves a performance arts center, a movie house, of this caliber," he said.

“I don’t think it’s the end at all, I mean it’s going to keep going forward, hopefully, someone will take that back over and we have a lot of more things going on just beyond that, too," Humphreys said.