On Feb. 10, 1950, Arlington Theater gave its first showing of The Story of Seabiscuit, starring Shirley Temple. Droves of moviegoers flooded the entrance of the new theater. Sixty years and a name change later to Arlington Music Hall, a Texas developer wants to reignite the theater.

{multithumb thumb_width=1} On Feb. 10, 1950, Arlington Theater gave its first showing of The Story of Seabiscuit, starring Shirley Temple. Droves of moviegoers flooded the entrance of the new theater. Sixty years and a name change later to Arlington Music Hall, a Texas developer wants to reignite the theater.

For the past 40 years, real estate developer Burk Collins has cultivated shopping centers in Oklahoma and Texas.

His latest endeavor was $7 million in renovations to Arlington Music Hall and the surrounding area for a project called the Center Street Station.

Although work isn’t completely finished on the Arlington Music Hall, the venue celebrated its grand opening Saturday.

“We have several promoters who want to come and do shows,” said Kevin Bailey, Center Street Station president. “They just have to know that we’re ready when they are.”

Although various acts soon will play at the hall, the venue has been the home for live country music in Arlington for almost two decades.

Since 1994, the Johnnie High's Country Music Revue performed out of Arlington Music Hall. Johnnie High, who hosted the show, purchased the building and collaborated with Collins for the renovations.

The show has been broadcast on satellite television and radio various times throughout its 36-year history. Though Johnnie died last March, his family continues to host the show each week.

Ashley Smith, High’s granddaughter, has been on the show since she was four.

Smith, now an alumna, and her family worked with Collins on renovation efforts for the theater while she was a UTA student.

“He [Burk] had that background, and we had the theater and show background,” Smith said. “So you put them together, and we thought we could come up with some great, cool things here.”

While the show isn’t being broadcast at the moment, Smith said getting the show back on the air could be an option.

“We basically redid the whole building. It’s like a new facility.”

Burk Collins,
real estate developer

“Now that the renovations are done, I’m not sure what we’ll do,” Smith said. “We might try to try some radio or TV back in.”

Country music star LeAnn Rimes performed “Blue” for the first time at the hall, Smith said. Rimes, who visited the show for the span of seven years, is one of the musicians who used to perform in the 1,085-seat Arlington venue.

Arlington Music Hall is also home to Symphony Arlington, hosting nine performances each year. Today at 7:30 p.m. Symphony Arlington will perform pieces from Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven.

Included in the $7 million of renovations is a complete electrical rewiring of the building, refitting of the pipes, retiling of floors throughout the venue, repainting of the exterior and interior walls, a new Yamaha system and an expanded stage and parking lot.

Amongst the new additions, the original marquee and box office from 1950 were kept in place.

“We basically redid the whole building,” Collins said. “It’s like a new facility.”

The music hall renovations are a part of the Center Street Station project to revitalize downtown. Collins also brought Babe’s Chicken Dinner House next door to the venue and plans to start construction on a Mellow Mushroom within the next 30 days.

“Hopefully,” Smith said. “We’ll become a staple in Arlington and really get this downtown area going again.”




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