A comedy club that has been been operating in Sundance Square 27 years says management of the district in Downtown Fort Worth is forcing them to move. Four Day Weekend first opened in 1997.
Four Day Weekend started with a club in Dallas. Founding Member David Wilk says another member suggested opening a second location in Fort Worth.
He says Downtown Fort Worth was "bustling," and they started looking for a theater to perform. Wilk says they found a space at Casa Manana and, within six months, needed a bigger theater.
Wilk says they then moved into their current location near 3rd & Houston.
"It's a funny story because I was getting married at the time to my lovely bride. We were going to have our rehearsal dinner on the rooftop of Caravan of Dreams, but it rained," he says. "My wife was freaking out. I was freaking out. 'No, the rehearsal dinner's going to be ruined.' Caravan of Dreams said, 'We do have this beautiful, old, empty theater downstairs. We could turn the lights on, and you could have your dinner down here.' We walked down there, looked around, and talk about a happy accident. They said it had been dark for years. We were moved in within a month. It was fantastic."
After the pandemic, he says Sundance Square refused to renew his lease and shifted to month-to-month. Wilk says he saw the "writing on the wall" when Reata announced it would close its restaurant on the same block when its lease expires this summer.
"We kind of had one eye open. Well, there's a chance we end up leaving when they leave, and that's what's happened," he says.
Sundance Square has not responded to a phone call made Wednesday or an email sent Thursday.
Wilk says Four Day Weekend is now looking for another location in a different part of Downtown, the Stockyards or Near Southside. He says Downtown Fort Worth Inc and several other groups have reached out offering to help him find space without leaving the center of the city.
"We love Fort Worth, and we're doing everything in our power, exploring all options to keep the show in Fort Worth," he says.
Reata is leaving Sundance Square when its lease expires at the end of June and will move into an interim location in The Tower, on Throckmorton between 3rd and 4th. Reata had previously been located in The Tower until the tornado hit Downtown Fort Worth in 2000.
When announcing his move, Owner Mike Micallef said Sundance Square had also refused meetings about renewing his lease.
Wilk says his background in improv is helping now because "it teaches you to pivot and move forward."
"I get the master plan to do something different with that entire building, and we're not part of the plan," he says. "We're looking, actively looking, anywhere and everywhere. The community has just rolled out and been so kind. I've toured so many spaces, visited theaters and had phone calls with realtors, it's been quite the outpouring of care, so I thank Fort Worth, and I thank our fans for that."
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