A new library. An arts incubator. Game plan changes in downtown Fort Worth
Downtown Fort Worth residents will have to wait a little longer for a new library because the city of Fort Worth has new plans for what had been targeted as the building for a library.
The city plans to use the former Center Fort Transforming Lives building at 512 W. 4th St. as a new arts incubator rather than the original plan to transform the building into a new library.
Downtown residents have been without a library branch since June 2023 when the city sold the 234,000-square-foot building at 500 W. Third St. to Dallas-based Dart Interests for $18 million.
The city purchased the Center For Transforming Lives building in August 2024 with the goal of turning it into a new downtown library.
However, a combination of the building’s layout and the $30.5 million price tag to retrofit the building inspired city staff to look at alternative options, assistant city manager Dana Burghdoff told the city council at a June 2 work session.
If the city’s going to pay that much money for a library, it should get one with all the modern amenities and innovations of a brand-new branch, Burghdoff said, referencing a conversation she’d had with Fort Worth Library director Midori Clark.
The city plans to find an alternative site to build a new 30,000-square-foot library, which it anticipates will cost roughly $35.6 million to build, Burghdoff said.
It’ll partner with the Fort Worth Library Foundation to raise funds for a new library as well as selling about $4 million in specialized city bonds that don’t need to be approved by voters.
City staff opted for the specialized bond sale after getting feedback from city council members that residents shouldn’t have to wait for funding from the 2030 Bond election, Burghdoff said.
The city promised residents that it would come up with a replacement when it sold the old downtown library, and so far it has fallen short on that promise, said District 9 city council member Elizabeth Beck, speaking at the June 2 work session.
She praised city staff for coming up with a plan that would expedite funding and not make residents wait any longer.
“I know I’ve been not the easiest to deal with on this, but it’s because I really firmly believe we need a downtown library,” she said.
It’s not clear where the new library will be, but Burghdoff laid out a timeline that would see the city secure a location for a future downtown library by August of this year.
The city council will vote on the proposed bond sale at its 6 p.m. meeting June 9th.
A new community arts center?
Fort Worth has been without a community arts center since the old center at 1300 Gendy St. closed in December 2024.
Under the city’s proposal, the former Center For Transforming Lives building could serve some of the functions of the old community arts center, including event space, artist studios, and a possible arts marketplace.
The city has assembled a working group led by former Visit Fort Worth CEO Bob Jameson that will include city council member Beck along with her colleagues District 5 council member Deborah Peoples, District 7 council member Macy Hill, and District 11 council member Jeanette Martinez.
Wesley Gentle, executive director of the nonprofit Arts Fort Worth, which used to run the 1300 Gendy St. location, will serve as an arts community representative along with others members to be named later, according to Burghdoff’s June 2 presentation.
The group plans to meet this month to receive public feedback and make recommendations on ways to use the 512 W. 4th St. building.
City staff have already started brainstorming some possible uses for the building, Burghdoff said.
The lower level of the building, which used to serve as a day care, could become an arts marketplace, Burghdoff said.
The first floor ballroom could be used as a community art display space or for events, the second floor theater could be used for performances, and the studio apartments on the top three floors could become artist studios for rent, she said.
The proposal for the 512 W. 4th St building is promising, but still not a complete replacement for the old community arts center, said Wesley Kirk, a Fort Worth-based photographer and organizer with the group Support Fort Worth Art.
The second floor theater in the 4th St. building would be perfect for music and events, but is not a one-for-one replacement for the W.E. Scott Theater, Kirk said.
“Those first two floors are really beautiful, but they’re not really built for exhibitions,” he said.
Having this building and the old community arts center operating in tandem would be ideal, he said.
The downtown building could be used as rehearsal space, and shows could be put on at the old community arts center, he said, noting the 1300 Gendy St. building lacked sufficient rehearsal space.
Artists could do their work downtown, and then take it to exhibit in the old community arts center, he said.
Having both buildings functioning as public spaces for community art would put Fort Worth on par with similar sized cities, he said.
“We would still want art spaces throughout the city, so arts is more accessible throughout the city, but having both buildings would go so far towards getting us where we need to be,” he said.
What about 1300 Gendy?
As for the 1300 Gendy St. building, a group of private foundations has approached the city to fund a feasibility study for the best ways to use the building, Burghdoff said.
Those foundations include the Amon G Carter Foundation, the North Texas Community Foundation, the Goff Family Foundation, the Scott Family Foundation and Visit Fort Worth, according to Burghdoff’s presentation.
The study would look at financially sustainable arts and culture operations, a use that would integrate with the surrounding cultural district, and identify partners to implement the study’s recommendations, she said.
North Texas Community Foundation is expected to take the lead on hiring a consultant to conduct the study, which the city expects to start sometime in July and run for four to five months, Burghdoff said.
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