Posted 12:09 am Friday, January 01, 2010
Downtown Revitalization Effort Grows
2000 Decade In Review 2009
By CASEY MURPHY
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Renovation projects like the new Gallery Main Street have gotten the community "fired up" about seeing changes in Tyler's downtown, city officials said.
Revitalizing downtown Tyler has been in the works for well over a decade but has been jump started into high gear within the previous two years with the opening of several new businesses, the city's Gallery Main Street, Moore Grocery Lofts and plenty of renovation efforts now in the making.
Why spend money on downtown, Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass asked. Because the downtown -- the heart of any community -- connects the entire city, she said. Private investors have come in to start initiatives in the past few years because they are seeing downtown Tyler as more viable, she added.
What city officials began years ago is starting to come to fruition.
More than two decades ago, a group of concerned local residents formed Heart of Tyler to plan, promote and coordinate goals for downtown. In 1990, the Texas Historical Commission offered a Main Street program and from that, the Heart of Tyler Main Street Program was formed, along with an initiative to revitalize Tyler's downtown area, Mayor Bass said.
The Moore Grocery Lofts on 408 North Broadway in Tyler.
In 2007, during the Tyler 21 planning process, residents told the city they wanted to make the downtown into a vital part of the community and discussed their visions, she said.
City Manager Mark McDaniel said Tyler 21 was a "rejuvenation" of a more aggressive look at downtown. He said he doesn't think the city really knew or anticipated what would come up. But in the past few years, retail and housing facilities have been constructed out of old buildings, and a niche of arts and culture, as well as business, has been created in the area.
"We're doing things now like I never dreamed we would be doing, even five years ago when I came" to the city, McDaniel said.
The city took in Tyler Main Street as a department in October 2008 and created a new home with greater visibility and a much greater role when it opened Gallery Main Street in a refurbished building at 110 W. Erwin St., McDaniel said.
The city put $100,000 toward renovating the facility, and contributions by the private sector made a big difference in the gallery becoming a real destination point, Tyler Communications Director Susan Guthrie said. The project "really got everyone excited again fired up about seeing a change in downtown," she said.
McDaniel said activity at the gallery has exceeded their expectations.
Ms. Guthrie said the formation of the Downtown Arts Coalition has been about planning events and encouraging people to come downtown. "It's all business development through the arts," she added.
RECENT RENOVATIONS
Since Tyler 21, the interest from the private sector in downtown projects has been "incredible," McDaniel said.
An example is Moore Grocery Lofts. After remaining abandoned for years, Landmark Group and Fitch Development Group leveraged $7.5 million in tax credits to transform the 1913 building into 88 apartment units.
McDaniel said it shows that the city's encouragement of private investment is working.
The Balance Pilates Studio, 116 W. Erwin St., was a big investment for downtown, he said.
Martin and Michelle Heines renovated the old building and opened their business there in 2008.
Other businesses that have opened up in the past few years in renovated buildings include Jakes Tyler and La Tee Da Flowers.
Churches like Marvin United Methodist Church and Christ Episcopal Church also have made renovations to their facilities. "It's nice to know they are reinvesting in downtown and aren't going anywhere," McDaniel said.
The Chamblee Rose Garden at the LeGrand Gardens opened in March on the grounds of the Goodman Museum and is the first entirely EarthKind botanical garden in the world.
Mayor Bass said the Goodman Museum is the entryway to downtown and with further expansion of the property, could be made into an area destination that could host events.
The city recently began offering wireless Internet accessibility downtown, which has people excited about coming to the area, Mayor Bass said.
PLANNED PROJECTS
Renovating the former Liberty Theater into Liberty Hall will create a "major anchor downtown," Mayor Bass said.
In 2008, the city entered into an agreement with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra Association (ETSO). The city helped raise $1 million in donations, and the ETSO will have to raise additional funding for the project. "With the restoration of Liberty Hall, we will have a destination for downtown events," Mayor Bass said.
McDaniel said the city also is pleased with what the county is doing to improve the east side of downtown with its planned adaptive reuse of old properties for county buildings.
Another renovation is being planned by Janie's Cakes, which will expand its operation in an old building at the corner of East Front and Fannin streets.
Ron and Kimberly Mabry are nearing completion of two businesses. Mrs. Mabry plans to open a coffee shop at Erwin Street and College Avenue and Ron Mabry will open a private art gallery next door.
McDaniel said the city is meeting with new developers for additional reuses for housing, such as more lofts in the area. And there are others they are talking to who are interested in making downtown their new home to be a part of the museum scene there, he said.
During the past decade, Genevoc Group has continued its commitment to downtown by buying the Bank of America building and Brandon Steele, who recently donated $250,000 toward renovating Liberty Theatre, bought the Peoples Bank building to upgrade it.
The city bought more than eight acres of land on the west end of downtown, including the old King Chevrolet and White's Ford dealerships, for future expansion, Mayor Bass said.
"Streetscaping" the area, by adding more trees, benches, lighting and public light, could be used to help flow the downtown area together, from Broadway Avenue to the west end, and could create a pedestrian corridor, she said.
Tyler has also received federal grants to replace the light signals in downtown, which will match the out-dated lighting in place now and will become timed lighting to help traffic.
During the Texas Downtown Association's annual conference in Tyler in November, awards were given to Discovery Science Place for Best Downtown Business; the city of Tyler for Best Public Partner; the Moore Grocery Lofts for Best Adaptive Reuse Project; and the Goodman Museum Movie Project for Best Marketing Project.
Ms. Guthrie said it's great to see the city win statewide awards for projects done in the past two years.
A revitalized downtown will help attract the type of businesses that will create an innovation economy, which is the city's goal, she said.
