DEATH PROUD be not

Peopleknowthetower,certainly. It’s been the subject of hundreds of photographs, sketches and paintings, and has graced dozens of posters, T-shirts, co ee cups, magnets and the like. A Lego depiction of the tower made by fourth-graders at Lakewood Elementary was the top art sale at November’s Lakewood Home Festival auction party $6,500.

The theater’s interior, however, is less familiar. Kinney says the owners are talking to a couple of theater groups, but it’s “probably a long shot at this point,” he says.

And its fate rests entirely in the hands of Kinney and the other owners.

A Cause Looking For A Leader

If the theater’s owners wanted to demolish the building or turn it into lofts, they could. It has no protection, either in the City of Dallas zoning document that governs the property or in terms of historical or landmark designation.

When the Advocate published this news Nov. 7 on our online news site (advocatemag. com) and Facebook page, the story went viral throughout the neighborhood. That same day, neighbor Krista Chalkley created a “Save the Lakewood Theater” Facebook page to garner support for its preservation. Within hours, the page received thousands of “likes” from neighbors — more than 2,700 in a single weekend, and more than 5,300 at last count.

Page administrators pointed out that the theater is still in use and makes a profit, and they described the owner’s decision to repurpose the space as “heartbreaking” because it is “a part of history” and “still making many memories within its walls.” They asked neighbors to share their favorite memories of the Lakewood Theater on the page, and more than 100 people obliged.

“I spent almost every Saturday at the Lakewood,” remembers Jan Lee. “I’m talking in the late ’50s. It was safe to be dropped o