Students present designs for
reuse of Kingsville landmark

Students in a studio led by Robert Warden, professor of architecture at Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, presented designs for the adaptive reuse of Kingsville’s historic Flato Opera House during a fall 2008 semester review.

Architects apply the concept of adaptive reuse to buildings that have outlived their original purpose by creating a design to change a building’s primary function while attempting to retain its architectural uniqueness.

The opera house’s owners, Nancy Bryant and Michael Krueger of Kingsville, are looking for ideas for possible new uses of the building in Kingsville’s historic downtown.

The building, which now houses a crafts and antiques store, was built in 1911 as the headquarters of the Kingsville Lumber Company. It included a small opera house on part of its second floor.