Fort Worth

Fort Worth’s Central Library hits the market as the city looks to consolidate property

The Fort Worth Central Library at 500 W. Third Street is on the market. The city of Fort Worth plans to downsize the library and find a location with less space as it consolidates much of its property downtown.
The Fort Worth Central Library at 500 W. Third Street is on the market. The city of Fort Worth plans to downsize the library and find a location with less space as it consolidates much of its property downtown. senglish@star-telegram.com

Fort Worth is downsizing its central library as the building at 500 W. Third Street hits the market.

The 234,000 square foot building is too much space for what the downtown branch needs, according to library spokesperson Theresa Davis.

The lower levels of the library have been closed off since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Davis said, and the upper levels including the 20,000 square foot children’s library have more than met the demand for the downtown space.

The library is also reorganizing as part of the city’s larger push to consolidate property downtown. The city plans to move several departments into the new city hall at the current Pier 1 building, and plans to sell off those properties as well.

The central library location will not be moving to the Pier 1 building, but to a yet to be determined site that’s closer to 80,000 square feet, Davis said.

The city estimated in 2018 that the downtown location is worth $14 million. There’s no price listed on an online listing advertising the building’s sale.

This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 6:48 PM.

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Harrison Mantas
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Harrison Mantas has covered Fort Worth city government, agencies and people since September 2021. He likes to live tweet city hall meetings, and help his fellow Fort Worthians figure out what’s going on.
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