Fort Worth’s $22M dome theater will be open soon. Here’s when and what’s showing
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s newly renovated Omni dome theater will open in December.
For nearly 40 years, the museum’s Omni IMAX Theater dazzled moviegoers by projecting images on its 180-degree ceiling. Built in 1983 as Fort Worth’s only IMAX, it shut down in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Over the last 18 months, the theater has undergone major renovations to transform into an 8K LED immersive dome made up of nearly 12,000 individual screens. When the theater opens, it will be the first dome of its type and size in a museum in the world.
Guests will only have to wait a few more weeks until the Jane & John Justin Foundation Omni Theater opens on Dec. 14.
Omni Theater to open in December
The museum announced the theater’s opening date in a Nov. 21 social media video that poked fun at its many interested guests.
Beginning with Facebook comments asking when the theater will open, the video then shifts to various museum employees who offer a few non-specific answers, including “this fall” and “soon.”
Finally, an employee standing in front of the theater’s entrance says, “Sooner than you think.” The Dec. 14 opening date then flashes across the screen.
Tickets are on sale now on the museum’s website. Tickets for juniors (ages 3-11) are $12.50, adults (ages 12-64) are $15 and seniors (ages 65 and up) are $13.
During opening weekend, guests can expect the following programming: “Animal Kingdom,” “Sea Lions: Life by a Whisker,” “Cities of the Future,” “Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope,” “Great Bear Rainforest” and “The Polar Express.”
An inside look at the new Omni Theater
The Star-Telegram visited the theater in October and gave readers an inside look at the $22 million project.
No projector is needed in the 78-foot-diameter dome. Instead, the LED panels are controlled by computers in a nearby server room. Audio-wise, speakers are attached to and placed all over the dome’s backside to help beam sound waves onto guests through perforated panels.
The museum partnered with Cosm, a Los Angeles-based technology company, on the dome. Cosm specializes in experiential and immersive dome technology and opened its first two public venues this year, including one in The Colony.
Byrne Construction Services, which built the original IMAX theater in 1983, returned for the 18-month renovation project that got underway in May 2023.
Before guests walk into the remodeled theater, they’ll be treated to a newly renovated lobby that can fit up to 300 people.
Previously, there were no restrooms on the theater level, meaning that guests had to go back into the museum. Now the level has its own set of restrooms in the corner of the lobby, where offices used to be.
The columns and some of the walls in the lobby used to be a mix of orange, white, and purple. Crews toned back the purple, added blue, and then matched the goldenrod yellow already found throughout the museum.
Inside the theater, guests will find all-new seating, including 278 larger, more comfortable seats with cup holders. The old fabric seats have been removed.
The IMAX projector, numerous films, and a few additional items have been saved and will be part of a new exhibit on how the Omni Theater originally started.
Another thing sticking around is the Fort Worth flyover video, which many young museum visitors have seen over the years. The original video debuted in 1983 as part of the “The Legend of the Sleeping Panther” multimedia presentation on the history of Fort Worth.
The flyover of 1980s downtown Fort Worth has been featured in every feature at the theater since 1984. An updated version is in the works and will play at the dome.
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 12:28 PM.
