Fort Worth stage actor Karen Matheny, 37, said she owes her entire career to the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.

She spent most of her early 20s working for Amphibian Stage and later the Stolen Shakespeare Guild when both organizations were based inside the arts center . A running joke among Matheny’s colleagues was that she had a cot in the basement of the building, she said.

But anytime she thinks about the arts center now, she can’t help but feel emotional.

The city-owned building, located in the Cultural District, closed its doors to the public last December as the property is in need of roughly $30 million in repairs. A 2022 assessment found the center faces problems with its plumbing, electrical and mechanical infrastructure .

Although the closure has felt like a death in

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