Tornado Terry’s Family Amusement Center, the beloved family arcade in Fort Worth near Keller that was supposed to close for good on Aug. 9, is now working on a new plan to stay open.
The family-owned business, located at 4530 Keller Hicks Road in Fort Worth, planned to close after years of construction on Keller Hicks Road stopped customers from visiting frequently, according to owner Shannon Bell. She now said she feels blessed “that God answered in a big way.”
Bell has been a police officer since 1997 and has been on leave since the passing of her husband. Terry Bell, the namesake and “heart” behind Tornado Terry’s, died in 2023 at the age of 63. He opened the amusement center in 1990.
“As I’ve said before, putting everything up for auction and having to close was just like watching my husband die all over again,” Bell said. “When this place closed, it was going to be another part of him that I lost and this has been our life, my life, for the last 37 years and I didn’t know where people were going to go.”
Bell said a local family stepped in to help start a GoFundMe campaign, and even offered to help with any outstanding funds after the campaign.
“Would you like to be a part of a miracle?” the campaign page reads. “I created this GoFundMe for a hardworking, faithful woman named Shannon, so we could see God make a way where there seemed to be no way. We’ve all had dreams we want to see born. We’ve all had tragedy and terrible things strike us. … Terry’s earthly life may have ended, but his dream does not have to. You can be a part of something bigger: the miracle to save Tornado Terry’s.”
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‘They want the legacy to continue’
Imran Acosta, the organizer of the auction for BidderBros and longtime friend of Terry’s, said that he would cancel the auction of the arcade games on his end after speaking with HiBid, the larger company involved in the auction. HiBid agreed to cancel their auction without penalty once they heard about Tornado Terry’s story.
Bell tearfully said that everything from cancelling the action to now having a plan to stay open feels amazing after so much stress and worry.
The arcade is hoping to raise $100,000 through the GoFundMe to keep its doors open for the community.
“The family [who organized the GoFundMe] has been coming in for years, literally years, and he told me that the Lord had laid it on their heart to figure out if they could help me,” Bell said.
Bell said she was initially hesitant because of how much money was needed and the fact that it was due to the ongoing road construction.
“They’re not asking for anything, this is pure philanthropy on their part, and they just don’t want to see me close,” Bell said. “But he is giving me resources that I didn’t have access to, and I don’t have to walk this alone now.
“I am so blessed and so fortunate that the Lord has brought a family who wants literally nothing from me other than to help me stay open. That’s it, that’s all they want. They want the legacy to continue, and they have the means and resources to help me.”
Bell said business has picked up recently after she shared her stories with multiple outlets, and people have been canceling holidays and coming to play at the arcade before it closes.
Bell said for the last two Saturdays the arcade has been packed with locals and people who heard about their story.
More than 35 years of games
Tornado Terry’s is packed with arcade games, air hockey and pool tables and has hosted school trips, church daycare outings and other community events. Including the arcade’s Dragon’s Lair game, changing the cabinet and game screen that Terry built.
Bell first sounded the alarm in November 2025 about the impact the construction was having on her business, telling the Star-Telegram that she is only taking in 45% of the profits she was making four years before.
Now, because of the generosity of community members and long-time supporters, the beloved family arcade may still have more years of gaming to come.
If you would like to donate to the Tornado Terry’s GoFundMe, click here.