City of Fort Worth eyeing historic downtown building for new central library

FORT WORTH, Texas - The city of Fort Worth is preparing to purchase a new site for a downtown library.

The existing historic building will come with a price tag of about $6.5 million.

The Downtown Fort Worth building is complete with unique, original features and flexible ballroom and auditorium space.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck’s district includes downtown. She says the newly identified location at the corner of 4th and Burnett streets is set to become the city’s new central library, pending a council vote. 

"It was so important that we bring back true library services downtown," she said.

The move follows the sale of the previous downtown library as it was simply too large for the amount of use and activity it was getting.

"The city sold the site of our old downtown library," Beck said. "It was a full city block. It was being underutilized, so we sold that to a developer to help revitalize and really develop that part of downtown."

The previous library was purchased by a developer who plans to knock it down and replace it with two 20-story towers to include apartments and retail space. 

"It took a little longer than anticipated to find a new spot for a downtown library," Beck said. "People were pretty upset and rightfully so."

Meantime, Beck says after attempts to lease several other downtown sites did not pan out, she believes the purchase of this building is the right fit.

Its features will allow for concerts and lecture series in addition to books and other library services. 

"This is a big win for the city," the councilwoman said. "We get to develop that previous site which will add to our tax rolls which is important as we think about growth and downtown gets their central library back. 

The city council will vote on August 13 on the historic building becoming the city’s new downtown library.