Without a Tenant, Lakewood Theater Goes Dark in The Interim

The Lakewood Theater went dark over the weekend as the existing tenants of both the theater space and the adjoining Arcade Bar have moved out. (Photo: Julie Billingsley Geron)

You’ve certainly heard all about the hubbub surrounding the Lakewood Theater and its many proposed tenants and transformations. Most recently, the longtime bar inside the theater, The Balcony Club, was able to renew its lease at the eleventh hour.

But without management at the Lakewood Theater, the trademark tower and marquee have gone dark, much to the dismay of neighbors. It’s a significant part of the neighborhoods identity, and one that nearby residents had been told would be maintained and preserved whatever should happen to the actual theater.

Instead, as reported on the Lakewood, Dallas Facebook page, the marquee is empty and not a single strip of neon in the sign is ablaze.

Some residents claimed that the lights went off because the owners couldn’t afford the electric bill, or because they might choose to tear it down.

“Last night was their last night on lease,” Julie Billingsley Geron said on the photo’s comment section. ” They turned off the lights because they were no longer responsible for the theater. Not because they couldn’t pay the electric bill. The landlord now is in charge of it.”

The lights at the Arcade Bar are dark, too, and some residents are saying that the venerated dive will move to Expo Park in the former spot of the Meridian Room.

Of course, if you want to grab a beer and some jazz, you can still head to the Balcony Club. At least until their yearlong lease extension is up. And rumors are flying, too, that the Alamo Drafthouse has turned down Willingham-Rutledge Realty’s proposal to bring an outpost to the neighborhood, though neighbors are working hard to woo them back.

In the interim, though, do you think the owners should turn the lights back on?