Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Renovated Omni Theater in Fort Worth reopens in August

By Pegasus News wire

FORT WORTH — Since last September, the domed IMAX® screen of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s 25-year-old Omni Theater has been dark as crews made major renovations to the theater and constructed a link between the theater and the main portion of the new facility. In August, the theater will return to action, offering new guest amenities while marking a major step in the construction of the Museum’s new facility.

On Saturday, August 9, the Omni Theater will reopen to North Texas audiences with the debut of three giant-screen IMAX® films: Dinosaurs Alive!, Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, and Deep Sea. (Museum members can preview Dinosaurs Alive! a day earlier – on August 8 – during Members-Only Day.)

In July, crews neared completion of a 3,300-square-foot connecting structure located between the Omni Theater and the main portion of the Museum facility designed by the internationally renowned architectural firm of Legorreta + Legorreta. The “link” will house guest amenities, including a concession area named “Reel Refreshments” and new restrooms, as well as space for temporary exhibits and a suite of museum staff offices. In addition, a preview center will offer details about the new facility and will be complemented by a bank of windows offering a view of the ongoing construction.

The “link” and the adjacent theater lobby space will give guests a first look at the new facility’s bold architecture and design elements, including the exterior brick façade, open spaces illuminated by banks of windows, and the bright paint, carpet and tile colors that are signature elements of the Legorreta style.

“This beautiful transitional space is a wonderful preview of what we will see when Ricardo Legorreta’s inspired design becomes a reality little more than a year from now,” says Museum President Van A. Romans. “He has created an elegant link between the Museum’s illustrious past – embodied in the Omni Theater – and its future.”

In addition to the new construction and redesigned lobby area, the dramatic transformation will continue with high-tech improvements beneath the theater’s 80-foot IMAX® dome. Between film showings, a new lighting system will project a sea of colors and themes on the screen surrounding the theater’s nearly 400 seats and light the area behind the dome to give guests an impressive view of the theater’s new sound system during pre-shows.

That sound system – recently converted from analog to digital – is likely the most dramatic of the technological improvements that will affect the guest experience. Considered to be the "flagship" of IMAX® sound, the system includes 50 new speakers and has been retuned and optimized for the geometry of the theater using professional IMAX® audio tuning software. The retuning ensures that every seat in the house receives the same level of sound quality from a system that has increased power, fidelity, crispness and clarity.

Tickets go on sale August 1 for the IMAX® films Dinosaurs Alive!, Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, and Deep Sea. Purchase online at fortworthmuseum.org, by phone at (817) 255-9540 or in person, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Ticket prices are $7 for adults; $6 for children (3-12) and seniors (60+); free to Museum Discovery Plus Members and $2 off for Museum Discovery Members. Exhibit Combo Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for children (3-12) and seniors.

Source: Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

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