Fort Worth building slated for downtown library now proposed for community arts space
A plan for a historic Fort Worth building to serve as the new downtown library will not move forward. City leaders are now considering whether the property could serve as a new community arts center.
Plans for the property at 512 W. 4th St. are shifting due to layout challenges the building presented for the Fort Worth Public Library, assistant city manager Dana Burghdoff said at Tuesday’s council work session.
The city purchased the historic building from the Center for Transforming Lives for $6.5 million in August 2024 after the former Central Library closed the prior year.
Fort Worth staff determined the building, first built in the 1920s, could not proceed as a new downtown branch due to its single entrance, small lobby with no security space, L-shaped studio apartments and daycare rooms on the ground floor, among other issues. The property needs $30.5 million in renovations and would require the library to be spread over six floors, which is difficult to manage and “trickier” from a security standpoint, Burghdoff explained.
The historic building will instead serve as a new community arts incubator, partially filling a void left by the closure of the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. That city-owned building, located in the Cultural District, closed in December 2024 and is in need of $30 million in repairs.
When asked whether the downtown property will serve as a replacement or a potential expansion for the closed Cultural District building, chief city spokesperson Sana Syed said via text it will serve as a new community arts center.
Redeveloping the 4th Street building for the arts community could include transforming the ground floor daycare into an artist marketplace, open the existing grand ballroom and second floor theater for community and performing arts events, and see apartments on the third to fifth floors converted into artist studios, Burghdoff said.
Building redevelopment costs will be presented in the fall following public input meetings led by a coalition of elected officials and arts leaders.
Who is serving on the 512 W. 4th Street Community Arts Working Group?
- Bob Jameson, former CEO of Visit Fort Worth
- Deborah Peoples, District 5 City Council member
- Macy Hill, District 7 City Council member
- Elizabeth Beck, District 9 City Council member
- Jeanette Martinez, District 11 City Council member
- Wesley Gentle, executive director of Arts Fort Worth
More people will be appointed at a later date, city officials said.
The city will invest nearly $36 million to construct a new 20,000- to 30,000-square-foot library on a yet-to-be-determined site. The property management department is reviewing potential locations.
Council member Elizabeth Beck said she looks forward to a new-build downtown branch, noting the importance of a city having “a hallmark library.” She also expressed appreciation of staff’s pivot to utilizing the historic property for the arts.
“We could have sold the building, we could have said it didn’t work for us, but we’re finding a way to make it work for our community to fill a gap that is desperately needed,” she said.
Visit Fort Worth and the Amon G. Carter, North Texas Community, Goff Family and William E. Scott foundations are funding a feasibility study to determine the future of the shuttered Cultural District community arts center.
Launching in July, the study is expected to last four to five months and will determine the most appropriate use for the property, identify financially sustainable arts and culture operations, and possible partners to fund and implement recommendations.
The North Texas Community Foundation will lead the charge to contract a study consultant who will meet with arts community leaders.
Editor’s note: The Amon G. Carter Foundation, North Texas Community Foundation and William E. Scott Foundation are financial supporters of the Fort Worth Report. Visit Fort Worth CEO Mitch Whitten serves on the Report’s board. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.The Fort Worth Report’s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust.
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