A historic Fort Worth theater closed its doors Sunday with little explanation. But behind the scenes, a worsening financial situation has devolved into a fight among Downtown Cowtown at the Isis’ investors — and multiple lawsuits.
After sitting vacant for roughly 30 years, the theater reopened in 2021 under the operation of husband-and-wife team Jeffrey Smith and Debbie Garrett-Smith, who spearheaded its multimillion dollar renovation. The couple declined multiple interview requests and responded to two of 12 questions sent by the Report. Debbie Garrett-Smith wrote that, for legal reasons, they had no further comment at this time.
“We sincerely appreciate the unconditional support of the community and everyone who entered our theatre,” she wrote in a Facebook message to the Report.
The renovation effort was widely celebrated by the community upon its completion in mid-2021. But it didn’t take long before financial troubles caught up with the business.
Documents reviewed by the Report show that the theater defaulted on an initial loan of $5.385 million. It owes city and county tax entities more than $200,000 in delinquent taxes. A lawsuit contests ownership of the building as well the right to operate within it. And multiple employees described deferred, incomplete, or missing payments, resulting in at least one confirmed complaint to the Texas Workforce Commission.
“He just got a little bit too far down the road with the wrong kind of lenders and, unfortunately, with those kinds of guys if you’re not moving quick, you’re losing pretty big,” Bo Fontana, an investor in the theater, said of Smith.
The infighting culminated in a sudden closure that even took one of Smith’s earliest investors by surprise.
Eric English, one of Smith’s former students and an early supporter of the project, said all appeared to be fine when he attended the Lone Star Film Festival at the beginning of November. About a week later, he was informed of a change in management and told that he would get more information after Thanksgiving.
“The lawsuit, to me, was brand new about like a week ago, right before Thanksgiving break,” he said. “I heard people saying, like, ‘Oh, apparently he’s being sued,’ or something. … But like I said, I haven’t got anything concrete from Jeff about the situation at hand.”
Unpaid loans, property taxes pile up
When the Smiths decided to make dreams of reopening the Isis theater a reality, they entered into a business agreement with Richard J. Roth of RAMM SDF Theater, LLC.
Together, they entered an operating agreement for Northside Historic Theater, LLC, which was designated as project owner. Jeffrey Smith was designated as a managing member through the Northside Historic Theater Partners, LLC, and RAMM SDF was designated as an investor member, according to court documents.
Real estate records show that project owner Northside Historic Theater, LLC then leased out the theater property to Smith, as manager of Downtown Cowtown Theater LLC, starting in 2021.
Roughly two years later, the partnership soured. Fontana said he bought out the Smiths’ interest in the theater building in February, in an effort to help Smith deal with increasing demands from investors and lenders.
Things went downhill, Fontana said, when one of the original investors took the theater’s financial issues to court. Roth’s LLCs sued and filed a temporary restraining order to shut the theater down after receiving notice from a lender that the partnership had defaulted on more than $7 million in loans under Jeffrey Smith’s watch. In addition, the suit states that Roth’s LLCs weren’t informed of Fontana’s involvement until Sept. 5, 2023, nor did they consent to the interest transfer.
Further, the lawsuit alleges, Smith “failed to provide any meaningful financial reporting; … purported to transfer some unknown rights or interests to some ne’er-do-well that is a complete stranger [referring to Fontana] … and engaged in acts of self-dealing.”
The Smiths did not respond to questions about the allegations contained in the lawsuit.
Roth informed Smith in May that he intended to remove him as managing member because of the loan defaults unless they were paid within 45 days. Correspondence between Smith, Roth and attorneys show that Smith asked for more time to resolve the situation before things escalated.
“This is nothing but a financial transaction for RAMM. No one knows this property better than I do, and with the issues that have arisen, I would have expected assistance, not an ultimatum,” Smith wrote in an undated email to Roth. “That notwithstanding, exercising the right to remove me at this crucial juncture will do nothing but complicate matters even further.”
Forty-five days came and went without the defaults being cured. The first notice to vacate came Sep. 11, 2023. When that was ignored, Roth’s LLCs filed a lawsuit against Smith and his associated companies. Northside Historic Theater, LLC also terminated Smith’s lease and has since filed a lien for more than $1 million in alleged unpaid rent dating back to 2021.
Roth did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Fontana said the lawsuit came as a surprise, because he believed an agreement was in place as he and Smith sought new loans and refinancing. He acknowledged that an earlier loan Smith hoped to secure had fallen through, but stressed that finding loans for specialty buildings like theaters can be a complicated process.
“Jeff’s got all these awesome acts coming in and these, excuse my French, these (expletive) idiots over here are basically making it where he’s got to close down, and all these people have already put up money,” Fontana said.
Financing company Liquidibee, which gave the Isis a cash advance of $35,000 in March of 2022, filed a third lawsuit in February of this year. The suit alleges that the theater failed to pay back its accrued debt and now owes Liquidibee $38,599.96 plus interest.
Defaulted loans aren’t the only debt hanging over the theater. Tarrant County tax records show — on two separate accounts — that the Isis owes $230,666 in total delinquent taxes from 2022. The Isis is facing two lawsuits from the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County and other local taxing entities collectively as a result of its failure to pay taxes. Those suits were filed in May and August.
The Isis has had several state tax liens filed against it over the past two years, though those were eventually dropped after the balances were paid off. The liens allow the taxing entity to seize and sell the property and help ensure that the taxing entity receives payment.
Investors offer different visions of the theater’s future
In the legal documents, Smith states that the theater has programming booked through at least the first quarter of 2024. It is unclear whether those events will be canceled, move forward under different management or if they will have to seek a different venue.
Folk and Americana musician Courtney Patton didn’t have time to wait for the investors and management to reach a legal resolution.
She was scheduled to perform at the theater Sunday and took to Facebook to ask how the closure would impact the show. Eventually, the show was moved to Tulips FTW instead.
“I’ll be honest, I’m just affected by it as a performer. Our promoter is the one who isn’t getting communication and who put down a hefty deposit JUST LAST WEEK,” she wrote in a message to the Report.
After learning on Facebook about the venue ceasing operation, she and her team scrambled to find a new location for the Dec. 3 show.
“In an attempt to protect the integrity of our series and our ticket holders,” Patton wrote, “we chose to take their silence as an answer and moved forward with changing venues so we’re able to perform as planned before it was too late.”
Northside Historic Theater, LLC, RAMM SDF Theater LLC and RAMM SDF Theater Manager, LLC, wrote in the lawsuit that they are “ready, willing and able to operate the Theater immediately,” if the court issues an injunction.
When asked if the Smiths intend to operate the theater in the future, Garrett-Smith wrote, “Our dream has always been to operate this amazingly unique venue and to give back to the community.”
For his part, Fontana wants to see the business expand — in more ways than one. He wants to buy out Roth’s LLCs’ interest in the theater.
“Our vision for the future is to keep the theater in place, and I have already had discussions with the city on making it a mixed use building once we get the investors(Roth)/ debt (bay mountain) out of the way,” he wrote in an email to the Report. “We intend to add three floors of multi-family above the theater with one small 3,000-square-foot office on the second floor.”
City spokesperson Reyne Telles could not confirm any discussions about this plan with city executives, but said that doesn’t mean Fontana didn’t speak with zoning staff or the call center.
Former employees allege mismanagement, lack of payment
Several former employees weren’t surprised to see the Isis close. The theater’s former marketing director, Greg TeGantvoort, cited the venue’s poor communication.
“I’m surprised it took this long. … It tracks to see the post because again, it’s not really clear on what’s going on,” he said, “and it has never been clear.”
Initially, TeGantvoort was excited to help revive the venue his grandfather had fond memories of attending. However, after he graduated from a volunteer to a paid employee, he noticed more cracks in the business plan, trouble attracting locals and logistical issues hindering the business.
“They’ve got seating for 500 people, but if you don’t have a bar to accommodate that, people won’t go to the bar. They’ll just be waiting in line,” TeGantvoort said. “It’s poorly laid out for what he wanted to do.”
Kendall Lambert worked as an assistant bar manager at the theater until September 2022. She was excited to be part of the theater’s newest incarnation, and loved that the city now had a place for creatives to gather. In the beginning, she said, the work wasn’t bad. But then, Lambert said, the paychecks stopped coming.
“It became this thing, ‘Well, we can’t pay anybody more. We’re not going to talk about it. We’re going to put it all underneath the table, but we’re still not going to pay people,’” she said. “So eventually, people just started dropping off like flies, and nobody was coming to events.”
Five employees told the Report that they received late paychecks, partial checks, payment in cash or checks that were missed altogether.
Former bartender Wes Parrish said that he was supposed to get his checks via direct deposit, but he reported that sometimes he had to go to the theater in person to ask for his pay and likened the process to begging.
“They would say, ‘We don’t have the money right now’ and to ‘wait for a little while and then we’ll get squared away.’ So everything was always a couple weeks late, if not more,” he said. “But, you know, … the apartment complex doesn’t care about that.”
One former employee shared a complaint they filed with the Texas Workforce Commission, and others reported filing independent cases with the commission as well. The Smiths did not respond to a question about the allegations.
Beyond that, former employees said lenders, performers and other people who were owed money would frequently call the theater or stop by.
“We’re still being kept in the dark, and we don’t know what to tell any of these debt collectors or anybody that comes in and is like, ‘Hey, I’m a performer. I still haven’t been paid. I have to talk to you. When can I talk to Jeff?’” Lambert recalled. “And it’s like, no communication. They’ve completely shut everybody out. They’re not doing interviews. They’re not answering questions. It’s just silence.”
Employees who were affected by the fallout from management’s alleged business decisions expressed emotions ranging from frustration to disappointment and, in some cases, anger. Several wanted to see the operation in the hands of new and local management.
Lambert said she doesn’t wish ill on the Smiths, despite her experience. She was supportive of the theater’s mission to revitalize a historic landmark, boost the area’s art scene, and create community. But she’s still left with many unanswered questions about how it all went wrong.
“I think that (Jeff) was right on the money with his vision,” Lambert said. “I just don’t think that he wanted to relinquish control or ask for help from the community or ask for help from investors or anybody in the business world out there.”
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Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter.
Emily Wolf is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at emily.wolf@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter.
