Panther Island’s KKK building sold to arts coalition. Here’s what’s planned for it
A coalition of arts nonprofits announced Tuesday it is purchasing the building at 1021 N. Main St., once the site of a Ku Klux Klan meeting hall.
Transform 1012 N. Main Street plans to open the Fred Rouse Center for the Arts and Community Healing named in honor of the Black Stockyards worker and Fort Worth resident lynched 100 years ago by a white mob. The Ku Klux Klan meeting hall was built three years later.
The group says it plans to transform the building into a “state-of-the-art cultural hub.” It plans to offer space for art exhibitions, services for LGBTQ youth, meeting spaces for workshops and community events, and an outdoor market promoting urban farming and local artists.
“I envision a crossroads where all of Fort Worth can gather; where every cultural group feels a sense of belonging, of being seen, represented, and listened to,” said Daniel Banks, co-founder of coalition member DNAWORKS, in a press release announcing the acquisition. DNAWORKS produces dance, theater and films to promote discussions about social justice.
District 2 council member Carlos Flores celebrated the purchase Tuesday, saying Banks and DNAWORKS co-director Adam McKinney’s vision resonated with him and other residents like Opal Lee, whose efforts led to Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday.
“Fort Worth will be able to take another step forward as a welcoming and inclusive city for all,” Flores wrote in a text message.
The vision also resonated with longtime Como community leader Estrus Tucker, who called the purchase a historic moment for the city of Fort Worth.
He said the new center will offer Fort Worth a place where people can learn about the tragic history of past Ku Klux Klan violence and inequities in the city.
“If we are in a better relationship with our diverse communities, that positions Fort Worth to better weather the storm of division and conflict and come out in a much better way,” Tucker said.
Transform 1012 N. Main Street has been trying to purchase the former Klan hall since 2019. At the time, owner Sugarplum Holdings planned to demolish it but delayed for 180 days to work out an agreement with Banks and McKinney’s group.
The purchase was made possible by a grant from the Rainwater Charitable Foundation along with the support of nonprofits DNAWORKS, LGBTQ Saves, the Opal Lee Foundation, SOL Ballet Folklórico, Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice, The Welman Project, Window to Your World and the 1012 Youth Council.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 11:41 AM.
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