{"id":399388,"date":"2026-08-06T16:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/399388\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:16:26","slug":"fort-worth-community-rallies-to-keep-tornado-terrys-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/399388\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth community rallies to keep Tornado Terry\u2019s open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tornado Terry\u2019s Family Amusement Center<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

The family-owned business, located at 4530 Keller Hicks Road in Fort Worth, planned to close after years of construction on Keller Hicks Road<\/a> stopped customers from visiting frequently, according to owner Shannon Bell. She now said she feels blessed \u201cthat God answered in a big way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell has been a police officer since 1997 and has been on leave since the passing of her husband. Terry Bell, the namesake and \u201cheart\u201d behind Tornado Terry\u2019s, died in 2023 at the age of 63. He opened the amusement center in 1990.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I\u2019ve said before, putting everything up for auction and having to close was just like watching my husband die all over again,\u201d Bell said. \u201cWhen 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\u2019t know where people were going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell said a local family stepped in to help start a GoFundMe campaign<\/a>, and even offered to help with any outstanding funds after the campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you like to be a part of a miracle?\u201d the campaign page reads. \u201cI 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\u2019ve all had dreams we want to see born. We\u2019ve all had tragedy and terrible things strike us. … Terry\u2019s 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\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018They want the legacy to continue\u2019<\/p>\n

Imran Acosta, the organizer of the auction for BidderBros<\/a> and longtime friend of Terry\u2019s, said that he would cancel the auction of the arcade games on his end after speaking with HiBid,<\/a> the larger company involved in the auction. HiBid agreed to cancel their auction without penalty once they heard about Tornado Terry\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The arcade is hoping to raise $100,000 through the GoFundMe to keep its doors open for the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not asking for anything, this is pure philanthropy on their part, and they just don\u2019t want to see me close,\u201d Bell said. \u201cBut he is giving me resources that I didn\u2019t have access to, and I don\u2019t have to walk this alone now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019s it, that\u2019s all they want. They want the legacy to continue, and they have the means and resources to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Bell said for the last two Saturdays the arcade has been packed with locals and people who heard about their story.<\/p>\n

More than 35 years of games<\/p>\n

Tornado Terry\u2019s 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\u2019s Dragon\u2019s Lair game, changing the cabinet and game screen that Terry built.<\/p>\n

Bell first sounded the alarm in November 2025<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

If you would like to donate to the Tornado Terry\u2019s GoFundMe, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Fousia Abdullahi<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Fousia Abdullahi is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram news reporter who covers suburban cities including Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine and Keller. She enjoys reading and attending local events. Send tips by email or phone.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tornado Terry\u2019s Family Amusement Center, the beloved family arcade in Fort Worth near Keller that was supposed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-399388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}