REPURPOSING INDUSTRY

Panther Island’s convenient location near Downtown, the Stockyards, and the railroad has historically lent it to industrial uses and, more recently, culture and recreation.

Historically, much of the island was dedicated to heavy industrial uses that supported Fort Worth’s oil and gas, meatpacking, and milling industries, among others. Looking to the future, this history has inspired a vision for utilizing adaptive reuse and embracing buildings with industrial character.

Today, businesses on Panther Island have begun to repurpose industrial space to create active attractions like Panther Island Brewing and Coyote Drive-In, though most of the island remains vacant.

Transform 1012 on the northern side of the island is transforming the former Ku Klux Klan auditorium and Ellis Pecan Factory into The Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing.

The site will be constrained by transportation as Panther Island is built out, which makes a streetcar and trail connectivity that much more important.