Fort Worth's Omni Theater Returning With Major Upgrade

Fort Worth's Omni IMAX is returning as a new reimagined digital dome

If you grew up in Fort Worth, you probably remember the Omni Theater IMAX at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

For nearly 40 years, it was a hot destination for those who wanted to experience the 180-degree dome ceiling, and it was a hit for kids all across North Texas.

Well, it's coming back in a spectacular way.

A $20-million dollar overhaul of the IMAX theatre is in the works. It has sat untouched since it closed in March of 2020 at the start of the pandemic, and has basically remained the same since 1983 when it opened.

Many people who grew up in Fort Worth and in Dallas took field trips to the Omni Theater IMAX, and at the time, it was an experience unlike any other.

The museum wants to bring that experience back, but way better than before by converting the dome into one giant LED screen that will create an immersive experience like nothing most of us have ever seen.

"So the footprint will remain the same, but we're going to take everything from the inside out if you will, and it will go to an all-new digital 8K LED dome. 8K. Which is at the limit of what your eye can see from distance," said Tammy McKinney, Vice President of Development and Marketing at the museum. "So when you think about your 4K TV in your home this will be 8K, so the clarity and the brightness will do something that you almost just cannot imagine."

The current IMAX projector system that projected movies onto the dome's ceiling for nearly four decades will stay intact. In fact, the museum decided to keep it in place and turn it into an exhibit as you walk into the newly reimagined digital dome created by COSM.

"We will be the first here in the country and the world that will have something like this in a theatre this large. And the experience again, that people will have when they come here to see a documentary and to see the films that we will show here, and the videos, will be tremendous," said Orland Carvalho, Interim President of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

For the first time, the museum will have a venue that is truly interactive. It will be a very versatile theatre with a number of opportunities.

The hope is that construction will begin in the Spring. Once started, it will be an 18-month project.

The museum has raised about 80% of the necessary funding: $5 million from the City of Fort Worth, $3 million from Tarrant County, $3 million from the Amon G. Carter Foundation, $1 million from the Ryan Foundation and $1 million from the William Scott Foundation. Carvalho says he is confident they will receive the $ 4 million needed to fill the gap and begin construction.

There will also be significant upgrades to the theatre when it comes to accessibility. The theatre's lobby will be much larger and will also be brought up to ADA standards. 300 new, larger, much more comfortable, seats will fill the new theatre.