Fort Worth nonprofit shares design concept transforming former KKK site into cultural hub

by Ash Petrie, Fort Worth Report
July 21, 2026

Transform 1012 N. Main Street, a Fort Worth nonprofit coalition established by eight local organizations and entities, released on July 20 a design concept for a planned cultural hub to be housed at a building that once served as Ku Klux Klan headquarters. 

The Transform 1012 Center for Arts and Community Healing, located at 1012 N. Main St., will be dedicated to expression, truth and reconnecting the Fort Worth community, said Carlos Gonzalez-Jaime, executive director for Transform 1012.

“The building was very dark, metaphorically and physically,†he said. “So, how can we make it exactly the opposite? Make it a place of light.â€Â 

Transform 1012 plans to keep the Northside structure's existing frame and introduce a new interior. Organized into three levels, the building will include a 250-seat theater, two dance rehearsal rooms, classrooms, galleries and an outdoor reflection space.

The auditorium constructed by the Ku Klux Klan Klavern No. 101 in 1921 will be transfigured into a space that acknowledges the building's history while supporting the current community, Gonzalez-Jaime said. 

“We're gonna talk about the KKK inside the exhibition because it needs to talk about the history of the building,†Gonzalez-Jaime said. “So once you learn about what has happened in North Texas, maybe you'll need a space to reflect.â€Â 

The concept's reflection garden was one of a few elements requested by the community, which since 2023 has been involved in the design process through public conversations held by the nonprofit. The discussions helped decide the project's architect, whether to tear the building down and how the space would be reused.

“It's learning from history to make a better city,†Gonzalez-Jaime said. “To have this opportunity to discuss, to know our communities and then to make a proposal of what they were envisioning.â€

The KKK intentionally built the auditorium to divide immigrants and intimidate them into staying away during Fort Worth's economic boom, Gonzalez-Jaime said. Transform 1012's intention is to restitch the city's north and south regions through a sacred space that reflects on its past, he added.

“It's really hard to confront history,†Gonzalez-Jaime said. “That's what we want to do, but to also create hope. It's not about how bad things are or where. It's about how we can work together to make this better for everybody.â€Â 

Since 2019, the building was planned to be repurposed into a cultural hub that honors the memory of Fred Rouse, a Black father and butcher who was lynched in Fort Worth by a white mob in 1921. 

“Central to the institution is the memory of Mr. Fred Rouse,†read a release on the unveiling of the design. “The second-floor gallery will share the histories of race relations in North Texas, keeping his story present through permanent memorialization, interpretive exhibitions, and educational programming.â€

Transform 1012 purchased the building in 2022 and began the demolition phase in late 2025. While the design concept is complete, there are a few more steps before the project can begin. 

The nonprofit will hold three more public conversations across Fort Worth to ensure the community's approval of the building's design and plan for future uses of its different spaces: July 25 at Blank Space, Aug. 22 at the Ella Mae Shamblee Library and another in September at a site to be determined.

Attendees will be asked to share their stories with the building to be included in the permanent exhibition dedicated to the building's history, Gonzalez-Jaime said.

“This is your center,†he said. “Let's make this a place that everybody can see … come inside and enjoy what is happening.â€

The project aims to break ground in summer 2027 with its target opening in the winter of 2028. 

Ash Petrie is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at ash@fortworthreport.org.

Disclosure: Fort Worth Report director of membership Ayesha Ganguly is co-founder and board chair of Transform 1012 N. Main Street. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.