Kelsey Shoemaker
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey stands in behind Opal Lee and Fred Rouse III (holding the check) during an event marking a $3 million federal contribution to the planned Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing on Tuesday. Others with them include Freddy Cantu, co-founder and director, SOL Ballet Folklórico; Fort Worth City Council members Chris Nettles and Elizabeth Beck; Taylor Willis, executive director, The Welman Project; Ayesha Ganguly, founder, Window to Your World; Sharon Herrera, founder and executive director, LGBTQ SAVES; John Stevenson, executive VP of the Projects Group; and Jessica Bonilla, project coordinator.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey made a visit to the North Side on Tuesday bearing gifts.
The Democrat from Fort Worth dropped off a check for $3 million from the U.S. federal government to advance the transformation of the former Ku Klux Klan Klavern No. 101 Auditorium into a place of healing.
The Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing, named after a local Black butcher who was lynched in 1921, will soon emerge on the property at 1012 N. Main St., with a grand opening planned for 2025.
"We can take this story of oppression and racism and division and really make it into something positive while still telling the story about what actually happened here during all those years," Veasey said. "And I think that's hugely important because we learn a lot from the past and we can have a brighter future like we're going to have within Transform 1012 North Main because we're able to learn from the past."
After years of debate about what to do with the building, Transform 1012 N. Main Street, a Texas-based, non-profit coalition of local arts, grassroots, and service organizations as well as pro bono partners and individuals, acquired the property in December.
The acquisition was made possible through a significant donation from the former owners, a grant from the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, and the mobilization efforts of the Transform 1012 Founding Board, a leadership collective of eight local organizations: DNAWORKS, LGBTQ SAVES, Opal Lee Foundation, SOL Ballet Folklórico, Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice, The Welman Project, Window to Your World, and the 1012 Youth Council.
In March, President Biden signed a government funding law fulfilling Veasey’s request for $3 million for the project.
Transform 1012 N. Main St.
An artist's rendering of the building reimagined as the Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing.