Editor’s note: Early voting for Fort Worth’s May 2 election opens April 22. In the lead-up, the Report is breaking down each bond proposition and charter amendment on the ballot. Find the other articles here as they are published.
South Fort Worth could see its former Seminary South Library reopen if voters approve a $14.6 million bond ask on May 2.
The library proposition makes up 1.7% of the city’s $845 million bond proposal on the ballot. Residents will vote on six propositions separately during the election.
The city’s bond package would fund three library projects across Fort Worth, including the reopening of Seminary South, which closed in 2022 after 55 years to be replaced by the Fort Worth History Center.
If approved, officials would use $2.2 million to relocate the history center, which is slated to move to the former City Hall building in downtown, said public information officer Theresa Davis.
Residents in south Fort Worth have advocated for the library’s return, Davis said. She added that project timelines would be confirmed if the bond passes.
What is a municipal bond?
Bond elections allow voters to decide whether governmental entities, in this case the city of Fort Worth, may borrow millions to billions of dollars from investors in exchange for interest payments and the eventual repayment of the original debt. The borrowed money must be spent on infrastructure projects specified to voters in propositions, such as street improvements and public facilities renovations.
If the Seminary South branch reopens, Fort Worth officials would “reevaluate” the needs and staff allocations for La Gran Biblioteca, Davis said. The retail-based library opened in La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth in 2022 to fill the gap left by Seminary South’s closing.
2026 bond proposed library projects:
Another $9.2 million of the proposition is earmarked to modernize the Southwest Regional Library, which was built in 1987 near the Overton Park and Tanglewood neighborhoods.
Davis said the “extensive” renovation would expand the library’s programming space to meet community needs.
“During the design process for these renovations, we will determine if these goals can be achieved by expanding the building footprint or working within the existing structure,” Davis said.
North Fort Worth’s Diamond Hill/Jarvis Library, which opened in 1989, will see similar renovations estimated at $2.9 million if the proposal passes, she said.
Both the Diamond Hill and Southwest libraries were “strong candidates for remodel” due to projected population growth nearby and corresponding demand increase, Davis said. The two libraries are typically used as voting locations on Election Day, which takes up their limited spaces and time, she added.
The final $300,000 of the proposition will fund public art projects if voters support the measure. The city’s charter requires 2% capital improvement project funding to be set aside for public art, with few exceptions.
Fort Worth’s last bond proposal in 2022 devoted $12.5 million to libraries.
Aside from the required public art funding, that proposition was for a new library to serve the booming population in far north Fort Worth.
The project — now named the Sendera Springs Library — is on track to open in early 2027, Davis said.
Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.orgor @shawlings601.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org/2026/04/06/4-years-after-closing-south-fort-worth-library-could-reopen-in-bond-proposal/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=476280&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://fortworthreport.org/2026/04/06/4-years-after-closing-south-fort-worth-library-could-reopen-in-bond-proposal/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/fortworthreport.org/p.js”></script>