Cory Graves
Could The Polyphonic Spree's Holiday Extravaganza Be The Last Event at The Lakewood Theater?
Earlier this week, The Polyphonic Spree announced that it will return to the Lakewood Theater on Saturday, December 20, for its 12th annual(-ish) Holiday Extravaganza.
For anyone that's ever kept up with the band, this news shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Since its first holiday concert in 2000, the Spree has held eight of its previous 11 holiday extravaganzas at the iconic East Dallas theater, including its last two.
But as of now, it looks as if this year's blowout could be the last that the band performs at the 76-year-old theater. The historic theater's current tenant, Wayne Roden, is set to leave the theater business behind when his lease ends at the end of January.
After that, what happens next inside the space is anyone's guess.
No matter who moves in to the Lakewood in 2015, though, don't expect much — if anything — to change with the building's exterior or iconic neon-lit tower. Attorney Craig Kinney, who is part of the Willingham-Rutledge partnership that owns the theater, has gone on record with no fewer than three other Dallas-based publications to say that he has no intentions of altering what he's called the property's biggest marketing advantages.
Still, his assurances have done little to assuage the concerns of those in the community that still fondly remember going to see first-run movies at the Art Deco-rich theater in decades past. A recently created“Save the Lakewood Theater” Facebook page that was launched in the wake of the news has accumulated over 4,500 likes in roughly six days.
That's mostly because, while Kinney has said that one of Lakewood's prospective new tenants would likely keep the place running as a decreasingly less-profitable, single screen movie theater, another likelihood would see the 11,000-square-foot space split into three smaller spaces that would likely house restaurants and retail shops. Should the latter scenario happen, at least some changes to the building's exterior would be all but a inevitable.
What is certain at this point, is that come February 2015, at least some degree of change will take place at theater. Exactly what those will be is up in the air at the moment. Anyone wanting to enjoy the place in its current glory, though, should definitely grab their Polyphonic Spree tickets sooner than later.
Cover photo by Karlo X. Ramos. The Polyphonic Spree's 12th Annual Holiday Extravaganza takes place Saturday, December 20, at the Lakewood Theater. Tickets and more information can be found here.
