The auction was booked. The closing date was on the calendar. After 35 years on Keller Hicks Road, Tornado Terry’s Family Amusement Center was going to sell off every cabinet and turn off the lights on August 9.

Then the community hit continue.

Owner Shannon Bell called off the auction. The games are staying. The doors are staying open. It happened because people in Keller, North Fort Worth, and across the Metroplex refused to let a 35-year-old arcade disappear over a road project.

We are not going to pretend to be neutral about this. We run an arcade too. And we are thrilled!

What actually happened

Tornado Terry’s has been a fixture on Keller Hicks Road since the early ’90s. Tokens. Tickets. A prize counter. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Dragon’s Lair, pool tables, air hockey.

Terry Bell kept every one of those games running himself. That is not a small thing. Anyone who has opened up a 40-year-old cabinet knows what it takes to keep a floor of them working year after year, and Terry did it for three decades.

He passed away in 2023 at 63. His wife Shannon, a police officer since 1997, took leave and kept his arcade running by herself.

Then came the road.

In February 2024, the City of Fort Worth broke ground on a $24 million widening project along Keller Hicks Road. Lane shifts. Detour signs. Navigation apps routing people around the whole area. And here is the part that gutted the business: for more than two years, the signage in front of a fully open arcade said “ROAD CLOSED.” Not “one lane.” Not “local access open.” Just “closed”.

Bell says the first year of construction took a 27% bite out of the business. By the end, she was the only employee and had not paid herself since September. On June 10 she posted that Tornado Terry’s would close on August 9, its 35th anniversary. An auction was set for the game cabinets. Commemorative tokens went on sale so families could take a piece of it home.

The reaction was immediate. Local news covered it. Reddit lit up. A local family started a GoFundMe. Strangers drove past the detour signs to spend money on tokens. Bell called off the auction and said the response felt like an answer to prayer.

For anyone who has ever run a small entertainment business, that reversal is a big deal.

Why this could have been any of us

Nobody at Tornado Terry’s did anything wrong. There was no bad management decision, no failure to adapt, no ownership drama. A city built a road, the signs said the wrong thing for two years, and a healthy business almost ended.

That is the part every independent arcade owner should sit with. The margins in this business are thin. Cabinets cost real money. Parts are scarce. Rent goes up every year. When traffic drops by a quarter, there is no reserve tank. You just start losing.

Terry Bell spent three decades building something that made kids happy. It nearly ended over a poorly managed road construction project.

Rising tides raise all ships

Here is the philosophy we operate on at Time Rift Arcade: rising tides raise all ships.

Arcades are not fighting each other for a fixed pile of quarters. We are all fighting the couch. Every family that has a great night at a local arcade is a family more likely to visit another one next month. Every kid who beats a high score on a 40-year-old cabinet becomes an adult who seeks these places out. Every arcade that takes care of its customers makes the whole category look good.

The reverse is true too. When a beloved arcade closes, the story people tell is “arcades are dying.” That story is bad for every operator in North Texas, us included. Tornado Terry’s staying open is good for Tornado Terry’s, good for Keller, and good for us.

So no, we are not writing this out of obligation. We want them to win! And win big!

How to actually help

If you have read this far, here is the useful part.

Go there and spend money. Donations are wonderful. Revenue is better. Bring your kids, buy tokens, hit the prize counter. That is what keeps a business alive after the news cycle moves on.

Learn the drive before you go. The construction is still active on Keller Hicks Road. The city expects traffic to shift onto two newly completed lanes in mid-August, with two-way traffic targeted for December and the full project wrapping in 2027. Check Tornado Terry’s Facebook page for current access directions before you head out. Do not trust a detour sign that has been wrong since 2024.

Leave a review. Google reviews are free and they matter enormously for a business fighting to be found.

Share it. Post the story. Tag friends who grew up there. Word of mouth is what saved this place, and it is not done working yet.

Donate if you can. The GoFundMe organized to keep the arcade going is still the fastest way to help from your couch.

One more thing

Time Rift Arcade is about 30 minutes southeast, in Bedford, and we would love to see you. But if you are closer to Keller and you have never walked into Tornado Terry’s, go there first. Play Dragon’s Lair. Ask Shannon about Tornado Terry’s history her late husband, and share some memories with her of your past visits.

Thirty-five years is a long time to keep a quarter-fed dream alive. Let’s help them make it forty!