Chapter Four of the Tyler 21 Plan is dedicated to developing goals and action plans to revitalize Tyler's Downtown.  The five goals contained in the chapter include:

• Create a full-service, mixed-use "Destination Downtown" that functions as the center of the region.

• Create new urban residential districts and improve existing districts with infill.

• Support the location of new anchor destinations in downtown with City actions.

• Enhance the public realm including existing streets, parks, plazas, and open areas, and create new signature public spaces.

• Create a pedestrian, bicycle and parking plan to enhance access and connections to downtown.

Since the adoption of the Tyler 21 Plan in November 2007, implementation of the Downtown Master Plan has been dramatic.  Please take a look at all that has been accomplished...and hold on to your hats because the Downtown is BAC(k)!

Milestones in Downtown Tyler Revitalization

February 2008
Establishment of the Downtown TIF/TIRZ

On Feb. 27, 2008, the City of Tyler established a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) in downtown Tyler.  The zone will utilize Tax Increment Financing to foster redevelopment in the area.  This action is a direct result of recommendations made as part of the City's twenty-year comprehensive plan, Tyler 21.  (More about the TIF/TIRZ in Downtown Tyler)

April 2008
Adoption of the Unified Development Code

The Tyler City Council unanimously approved the new Unified Development Code (UDC) that will include new regulations related to zoning, subdivision design and improvements, landscaping, drainage, streets and historic preservation.  The new Unified Development Code is a major outcome of the Tyler 21 planning process and puts into ordinance many of the ideas developed from community feedback and recommended in the Plan. (More information on the UDC) (Click here to view a pdf version of the new UDC)

May 2008
Launch of the Business, Arts and Culture District in Downtown

The City of Tyler and the Heart of Tyler held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially mark the launch of the new Business, Arts and Culture District in downtown Tyler. 

 Specific changes to the Code that impact Downtown and will transform it from a business district into a Business, Arts and Culture District include: 

 Uses for property in the District have been expanded to include art studios, ceramics operations, framing stores, art workshops, photography and other arts businesses.  

• Grocers have now been allowed - to encourage residency in the District. 
• Outdoor storage will no longer be allowed. 
• Sidewalk sales are encouraged by permit only. 
• Horizontally projected signs are now allowed.
  (More information about the BAC)

July 2008 
Acquisition of Property in Downtown Tyler

At a press conference held July 23, 2008, the Tyler City Council announced the authorization to purchase approximately 8.65 acres of property in downtown Tyler.  The property under contract extends west from Bonner along both Ferguson and Erwin streets and includes the former site of the King Chevrolet and White’s Ford car dealerships. (More)

July 2008
City and Heart of Tyler Partner on Downtown Revitalization; New City Main Street Department Created

At a news conference held on July 23, 2008, the Tyler City Council announced plans for the Main Street downtown development program to become a City department and current Heart of Tyler Main Street Program Director Beverly Abell to be named department director effective Oct. 2008.



August 2009
City Opens Gallery Main Street, Visitors' Center and Main Street Office in Downtown

On Aug. 28, 2009, the City of Tyler opened a 3,300 square foot art gallery in the heart of downtown Tyler.  The adaptive reuse project was opened with a showing from internationally known watercolor artist Paul Jackson.
(Read More)
(Go to the Downtown Arts Coaltion/Gallery Main Street)
(View Brochure about the renovation of the Main Street Program Offices)
(Info on the development community helping to bring the dream of the gallery to reality)

November 2010
Fair Foundation, Estate Donate Properties for Downtown Development

The City of Tyler announced that the R.W. Fair Foundation and the Fair estate have gifted two Downtown buildings and several other parcels of land to the City for use in future public private partnerships that will help with revitalization efforts. 

"We are very thankful to the R.W. Fair Foundation for making this generous gift that has the best interests of the entire community at heart,” said Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass. “Having assets that can be used to attract private reinvestment is a major advantage, particularly in these tougher financial markets.”

Of the two buildings located at 121 and 123 S. Broadway, one is currently vacant (the Lindsey Building) and one is occupied (The Fair Foundation Building).  The City will continue the tenant relationships, as well as the existing property management contract, and intends to recognize and continue to promote the building as an energy center in support of recent industry growth initiatives. 

Also gifted are parking lots located at the corners of Elm and Broadway/College.  

September 2011
Grand Opening of Liberty Hall

Another watershed moment in the life of Downtown Tyler occurred Sept. 10, 2011, when Liberty Hall (the forner Liberty Theater) opened its doors after an extensive renovation project.

The building at 103 E. Erwin began life as a 1930s-era movie theater. For years, it had been empty, and new purposes for the property were mulled.

The City of Tyler partnered with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra Association in early 2008 to announce a cooperative project to revive the old theater building and turn it into a performing arts hall. A major private fundraising effort followed, and the renovation of the 6,824-square-foot, 300-plus-seat facility began.

Liberty Hall is now in operation, and it has already hosted everything from classic movies to live theater for children, alterative rock and bluegrass concerts, and everything in between.

Go to www.libertytyler.org for performance information.

 

 

Gallery Main Street serves as a cornerstone of the Downtown Arts and Cultural District as approved under the Tyler 21 plan. Gallery Main Street opened in August 2009 as a juried fine-art gallery, and shares space with the City of Tyler Main Street Department and Heart of Tyler, Inc.

Occupying the beautifully renovated building at 110 W. Erwin, the gallery offers Tylerites and the surrounding community the opportunity to view fine art created by area artists. Exhibits at the gallery rotate on a continuous schedule, so there is always something new and exciting to see.

Visit the Gallery Main Street Website for information on the current exhibit, upcoming events and to register for free email updates.

Are you an artist interested in exhibiting at Gallery Main Street? Click here for the prospectus for upcoming shows.

Each quarter, Gallery Main Street and various Downtown Tyler businesses open their doors to artists and the public during the Downtown Tyler ArtWalk. This event features displays of art, dance, live music and more free to the public throughout the downtown area. Find out more about ArtWalk by clicking here.

Gallery Main Street is also home to many arts activities, including workshops.

Be sure to visit us at 110 W. Erwin!

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Wednesday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday-Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday-Noon to 4 p.m.

(903) 593-6905

Half Mile of History Heritage Walk in Downtown Tyler Honors People, Places, Events

The Half Mile of History is a permanent, outdoor, half-mile loop that surrounds the square in the heart of Downtown Tyler.  Significant people, places and events in the history of Tyler and Smith County are honored by placement of stone markers in the sidewalks along the Half Mile of History. (More information on the Half Mile of History) (Nomination Form). The program resulted from a recommendation that came out of the Tyler 21 planning process.

More than two dozen distinguished citizens and places have been made part of the Half Mile of History to date. For a complete list of those honored, please click here.

Liberty Hall: Downtown Center of Performing Arts

Downtown Tyler's own Liberty Hall was opened with a flourish on Sept. 10, 2011, with a concert presented by the East Texas Symphony Orchestra.

The building in the 100 block of East Erwin began life as a 1930s-era movie theater. For years, it had been empty, and new purposes for the property were mulled. The City of Tyler partnered with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra in early 2008 to announce a cooperative project to revive the old theater building and turn it into a performing arts hall.  A major fundraising effort followed, and renovation of the 6,824-square-foot facility began.

“The opening was only the beginning of a stellar line-up of entertainment,” Payne said, adding that the theater will bring audiences downtown and contribute to the continuing effort to make downtown a center for the arts.

A wide variety of entertainment options will be available at Liberty Hall, including movies, live music, live theater, special events such as the Downtown Tyler Film Festival and more.

Those who want more information should go to www.libertytyler.org, call Payne at (903) 595-7274, or send email to apayne@tylertexas.com.

Your Opportunity to be part of the Liberty Hall Project

 Be a part of the Liberty Theater revitalization to by contributing to the "Give Me Liberty" seat sponsorship campaign. Your donation of $1,000 for "General House" or $5,000 for "Premiere Seating" will further the efforts to revitalize the Liberty and make it the crown jewel of the arts in Downtown Tyler.

 

 

GIVE ME LIBERTY BROCHURE

  

 

 

  

DTAC, the Downtown Tyler Arts Coalition, is an organization of artists who guide and support the development of the arts in  Downtown Tyler.

We invite artists and arts supporters to join our all-volunteer organization in its efforts to inject the arts into all phases of the revitalization of Downtown. This group works under the auspices of the City of Tyler's Main Street Department and the Heart of Tyler, Inc.

The larger mission of DTAC is to manage Gallery Main Street at 110 W. Erwin, guide art activities in the Downtown Area (like the ArtWalk and art workshops) and to help develop arts-related businessess in Downtown Tyler.

DTAC is divided into four subsets: visual arts, dance/performance, film/theater and music.

 

 

Join DTAC now!

As each subset holds its meetings, you will be contacted via email based on your area of interest and you will begin receiving the informative monthly DTAC electronic newsletter.

 

What Happened to America's Main Streets?

Before World War II, downtown was the community's primary commercial hub. Downtown buildings usually had several tenants -- typically a ground-floor retailer and, frequently, several upper-floor offices or apartments; together, these tenants provided enough rent for property owners to keep their buildings in good condition. The presence of the post office, library, banks and local government offices added to the steady flow of people downtown. Not only was downtown the center of the community's commercial life, it was also an important part of its social life; people thronged the streets on Saturday nights to meet friends, see a movie and window-shop. 

In the past 40 years, America's downtowns have changed drastically. The creation of the interstate highway system and subsequent growth of suburban communities transformed the ways in which Americans live, work and spend leisure time. With improved transportation routes, people found it easier to travel longer distances to work or shop. Roads that once connected neighborhoods to downtown now carried residents to outlying shopping strips and regional malls. Throughout the nation, in town after town, the story repeated itself. Downtown businesses closed or moved to the mall, shoppers dwindled, property values and sales tax revenues dropped. Some downtowns sank under the weight of their own apathy. Neglected buildings, boarded-up storefronts and empty, trash-strewn streets gradually reinforced the public's perception that nothing was happening downtown, that nothing was worth saving there. People forgot how important their downtown and its historic commercial buildings were in reflecting their community's unique heritage. 

In many communities downtown merchants and property owners tried to halt this spiral of decline by imitating their competition -- the shopping mall. Their attempts to modernize downtown take the forms of pedestrian malls, covering traditional building fronts with aluminum slipcovers, and attaching huge, oversized signs on their buildings to attract attention. These well-meaning but usually ineffective methods did not stabilize downtown's decline, mostly because they did not address the fundamental problem -- that businesses did not change when the market did, and that people did not see the downtown as a destination for shopping any more. With the economic boom of the 1990s, downtown also saw increased development occurring outside traditional areas, and the issue of "sprawl" with its uncontrolled growth and cookie cutter architecture that reflected neither a sense of place nor a sense of pride, an became an issue that most communities contend with today. 

Facing these issues, over 1,600 communities have adopted the Main Street approach in the past 25 years to look again at downtown, their heart of the community, to save its historic buildings, to revive its commercial core, to strengthen business, to control community-eroding sprawl, and keep a sense of place and community life in America. 

The Four-Point Approach

The Main Street Four-Point Approach® is a community-driven, comprehensive strategy used to revitalize downtown and neighborhood business districts throughout the United States. It is a common-sense way to address the variety of issues and problems that challenge traditional business districts. 

As a unique economic development tool, the Main Street Four-Point Approach® is the foundation for local initiatives to revitalize their districts by leveraging local assets—from cultural or architectural heritage to local enterprises and community pride.

The four points of the Main Street approach work together to build a sustainable and complete community revitalization effort.

Organization

involves getting everyone working toward the same goal and assembling the appropriate human and financial resources to implement a Main Street revitalization program. AAn advisory board and standing committees make up the fundamental organizational structure of the volunteer-driven program. Volunteers are coordinated and supported by a paid program director as well. This structure not only divides the workload and clearly delineates responsibilities, but also builds consensus and cooperation among the various stakeholders.

Promotion

sells a positive image of the commercial district and encourages consumers and investors to live, work, shop, play and invest in the downtown district. By marketing a district's unique characteristics to residents, investors, business owners, and visitors, an effective promotional strategy forges a positive image through advertising, retail promotional activity, special events, and marketing campaigns carried out by local volunteers. These activities improve consumer and investor confidence in the district and encourage commercial activity and investment in the area. 

Design

means getting downtown into top physical shape. Capitalizing on its best assets — such as historic buildings and pedestrian-oriented streets — is just part of the story. An inviting atmosphere, created through attractive window displays, parking areas, building improvements, street furniture, signs, sidewalks, street lights, and landscaping, conveys a positive visual message about the commercial district and what it has to offer. Design activities also include instilling good maintenance practices in the commercial district, enhancing the physical appearance of the commercial district by rehabilitating historic buildings, encouraging appropriate new construction, developing sensitive design management systems, and long-term planning. 

Economic Restructuring

strengthens a community's existing economic assets while expanding and diversifying its economic base. The Main Street program helps sharpen the competitiveness of existing business owners and recruits compatible new businesses and new economic uses to build a commercial district that responds to today's consumers' needs. Converting unused or underused commercial space into economically productive property also helps boost the profitability of the district.

Coincidentally, the four points of the Main Street approach correspond with the four forces of real estate value, which are social, political, physical, and economic.

The Eight Principles

The National Trust Main Street Center's experience in helping communities bring their commercial corridors back to life has shown time and time again that the Main Street Four-Point Approach succeeds. That success is guided by the following eight principles, which set the Main Street methodology apart from other redevelopment strategies. For a Main Street program to be successful, it must whole-heartedly embrace the following time-tested Eight Principles.

• Comprehensive: No single focus — lavish public improvements, name-brand business recruitment, or endless promotional events — can revitalize Main Street. For successful, sustainable, long-term revitalization, a comprehensive approach, including activity in each of Main Street's Four Points, is essential.
• Incremental: Baby steps come before walking. Successful revitalization programs begin with basic, simple activities that demonstrate that "new things are happening" in the commercial district. As public confidence in the downtown district grows and participants' understanding of the revitalization process becomes more sophisticated, Main Street is able to tackle increasingly complex problems and more ambitious projects. This incremental change leads to much longer-lasting and dramatic positive change in the downtown area.
• Self-help: No one else will save your downtown. Local leaders must have the will and desire to mobilize local resources and talent. That means convincing residents and business owners of the rewards they'll reap by investing time and money in downtown — the heart of their community. Only local leadership can produce long-term success by fostering and demonstrating community involvement and commitment to the revitalization effort. 
• Partnerships: Both the public and private sectors have a vital interest in the district and must work together to achieve common goals of downtown’s revitalization. Each sector has a role to play and each must understand the other's strengths and limitations in order to forge an effective partnership.
• Identifying and capitalizing on existing assets: Business districts must capitalize on the assets that make them unique. Every district has unique qualities like distinctive buildings and human scale that give people a sense of belonging. These local assets must serve as the foundation for all aspects of the revitalization program.
• Quality: Emphasize quality in every aspect of the revitalization program. This applies to all elements of the process — from storefront designs to promotional campaigns to educational programs. Shoestring budgets and "cut and paste" efforts reinforce a negative image of the commercial district. Instead, concentrate on quality projects over quantity. 
• Change: Skeptics turn into believers and attitudes will turn around. At first, almost no one believes downtown can really turn around. Changes in attitude and practice are slow but definite — public support for change will build as the Main Street program grows and consistently meets its goals. Change also means engaging in better business practices, altering ways of thinking, and improving the physical appearance of the commercial district. A carefully planned Main Street program will help shift public perceptions and practices to support and sustain the revitalization process. 
• Implementation: To succeed, Main Street must show visible results that can only come from completing projects. Frequent, visible changes are a reminder that the revitalization effort is under way and succeeding. Small projects at the beginning of the program pave the way for larger ones as the revitalization effort matures, and that constant revitalization activity creates confidence in the Main Street program and ever-greater levels of participation.

Main Street Flower Market
March 30-31, 2012
The Main Street Flower Market, one of Tyler's most beautiful and most-anticipated events, will be held March 30-31, 2012 at the historic Goodman-LeGrand Museum grounds at 624 N. Broadway in Downtown Tyler. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

The market will be filled with bedding plants, herbs, garden decor and so much more for the garden enthusiast.
 
Be sure to join us in March for the 2012 Main Street Flower Market!

DOWNLOAD VENDOR APPLICATION FORM HERE

Facade Grant Program Encourages Downtown Reinvestment

A new program aimed at generating property rehabilitation and jobs in the downtown area has been created by the City of Tyler.

Officially known as the Commercial Exterior Grant Program (CEGP), the program is designed to encourage physical improvements and commercial revitalization in the designated Downtown Business, Arts and Culture (DBAC) district and Main Street program area, which generally includes buildings and land from Front to Gentry, Palace to Beckham.

The program provides grants in the form of five-year, forgivable loans to businesses or owners of income-producing property in the DBAC area. The five-year term was established to encourage business owners to commit to remaining in their buildings for at least five years. Grants will be for a maximum of $10,000, with a minimum of $1,000.

The source of the funding is the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Eligible projects include façade renovation, awning installation, exterior painting, outdoor lighting, landscaping, parking lot improvements and signage.

Technical assistance in the form of project planning, consultations regarding Federal tax credits and more are also included in the program.

Property or business owners must provide leverage in the form of 50% of the total project cost. Projects should create or retain at least one job that benefits a low- to moderate-income person.

Applications for the program will be reviewed by a CEGP committee comprised of representatives of Heart of Tyler, the City of Tyler, TEDC and others. In addition to meeting basic eligibility requirements, applications will be reviewed for potential to diversify the economy, effect on other businesses, consistency with local redevelopment strategies and downtown design standards, business plan, job impacts and other criteria.

Those interested in further information about the program should contact the City of Tyler Main Street office at (903) 593-6905 or the City of Tyler Neighborhood Services office at (903) 531-1303.

Click here for Commercial Exterior Grant Program Manual

Gallery Main Street Available for Rentals

Did you know that Gallery Main Street is available for rental for events such as receptions and meetings?

The main gallery, conference room and kitchen are available for rent individually or as a package.

For rates and rental details, please call Gallery Main Street at (903) 593-6905.

Click here for Gallery rental policy.
Click here for Gallery rental checklist and fees.